The group hopes that voters will be given a chance to decide the issue next year.
The Massachusetts Food Association hopes that state voters will be given another chance to approve the sale of been and wine in supermarkets next year.By COLLEEN QUINN
BOSTON - Voters heading to the polls in 2012 may need to check their shopping lists first and determine whether they think more grocery stores and supermarkets should be able to sell beer and wine.
The Massachusetts Food Association is taking another shot at getting beer and wine into grocery stores, filing two ballot questions Wednesday, one which would allow food stores to sell wine and a second to allow grocery stores and supermarkets to sell beer and wine, under local control. The group filed two questions hoping that at least one would be certified by Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office and give them an opportunity to advance it the 2012 ballot, backers said.
In 2006, a similar ballot initiative allowing wine to be sold in food stores was defeated with 56 percent of voters voting against it and 44 percent for it, according to results from Secretary of State William Galvin’s elections division website. Package stores owners, fearing increased competition, fiercely fought the initiative, alongside a local police group, who days before the election ran commercials raising concerns about the possibility of minors getting a hold of alcohol in grocery stores.
Massachusetts has some of the nation’s toughest laws surrounding alcohol sales that date back to Prohibition, according to retailers. Thirty-five other states allow alcohol sales in grocery stores, including New Hampshire.
Coakley has until early September to certify the language of ballot initiatives filed by Wednesday's deadline. Then, backers of certified proposals must gather 68,911 signatures by mid-November. After successful signature drives, lawmakers have until May 2012 to support the proposals, offer alternatives, or permit the questions to appear on the 2012 ballot. If lawmakers take no action, supporters must gather an additional 11,485 signatures to place the question on the ballot.
Backers of the ballot question say it has a good chance of passing. “The supermarkets and grocery stores really want to give their customers what they are asking for,” said Cynthia Eid, a consultant representing the Massachusetts Food Association. “Supermarkets are in the business of accommodating customers. They like the convenience of one-stop shopping.”
In the last ballot push, opponents argued that convenience stores and gas stations could be considered food stores, Eid said. So, this time they included a clause that would allow local boards to retain control over the alcohol licenses and be able to define grocery stores, she said.
Whether the proposal makes it to the voters is up in the air. Industry officials on both sides of the issue told the News Service Thursday they are discussing “compromises” on a bill pending in the Legislature that would allow more grocery stores and supermarkets to sell beer and wine.
Under current law, grocery store owners can only sell beer and wine once they receive an alcohol permit from their local communities, but they are not allowed to hold more than three permits in the state - making it difficult for chain grocery stores to sell alcohol.
Both package and grocery store industry advocates said they would like to avoid a ballot vote.
A weakened economy might make it tough for the two sides to raise the millions of dollars it takes for a ballot battle, according to retailers. The package store industry had a recent voter victory last November, spending millions of dollars to successfully overturn the state’s alcohol 6.25 percent sales tax on alcohol.
Jon Hurst, the president of the Retailers’ Association of Massachusetts, said his organization has not taken a position yet on the latest ballot questions. The association represents both grocery store and package store owners. Hurst said he would prefer to see the law changed through the Legislature rather than a voter initiative.
A bill (S 1851) filed by Sen. Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport) is making its way through the State House, where it had a hearing before the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure in May. The bill would allow grocery stores to hold up to 20 licenses in the state, but not more than one in any city or town.
Since the hearing, the grocery store and the package store owners have been working together to come up with a compromise they could present to lawmakers and avoid a ballot question, according to officials from both industries and lawmakers.
Rep. Theodore Speliotis, D-Danvers, co-chairman of the committee, said he is not sure a ballot initiative will be necessary.
“I think there is a willingness within the industries to reach some type of an agreement so that a ballot question wouldn’t be necessary,” said Speliotis, who added he has spoken to advocates in both industries in the weeks since the hearing.
Flynn, from the Food Association, said supermarket industry representatives and package store owners are communicating “trying to avoid going to a ballot question.”
“The last thing we want to do is spend a ton of money to bring this to the voters,” he said.
Frank Anzalotti, executive director of the Massachusetts Package Stores Association, said the two groups have “had a couple of discussions.” Anzalotti said the discussions would continue.
“Assuming there is common ground, and I don’t know that there is, but we may not need to have this petition,” he said.
But he added he is not surprised the petitions were filed, and said his organization has not take a position on it yet.
Eid said the Massachusetts Food Association hopes lawmakers pass a bill, but they did not want to wait to see if a law changed before the 2012 election and risk missing the August 3 deadline to file a ballot initiative.
“Hopefully the Legislature comes up with a compromise,” she said. “If not, we are prepared to move forward.”
Hurst said it is difficult to get a ballot initiative passed, and he worries if it fails again it would postpone changes to the law for a long time. The Retailers' Association wants to see the law loosened up, Hurst said before the May hearing.
“It is going to disappoint me if nothing happens. The last defeat took expansion off the table for several years,” he said Thursday. “If this goes to the ballot and loses again, we are pushing the ball down the road for many more years.”