Here is a letter I wrote to the ABC Board in July of 2020, imploring them to use common sense. It did not work.
To Whom It May Concern:
2020 seems to be a time when governments and bureaucrats collectively snatch up freedom from certain businesses and choose winners and losers in a completely nonsensical manner. Bowling alleys are bad. Lowe's good. Sporting teams are bad. WalMart is good.
You, as unelected officials, are deciding today whether to permit establishments, most crushed during the 2020 mania, to continue to serve alcohol after 10pm. The reasons? Dubious at best. Scandalous at worst. These establishments are all legally permitted, pay taxes, and have mandated insurance to comply with the already burdensome business model enacted by the ABC Board in AL, and you are now taking away their established business model. As you probably know, some of these establishments will not survive your decree. Business owners will be forced to close, and add to the continued lofty unemployment in our state. Some of these people are working single moms, college students who are working their way through school, and people on the fringes of society. You are hurting the most vulnerable of us.
Please note that Alabamians, like most of this country, have woken up to the troubling measures our collective governments have taken during this pandemic. Please also know that your continued overreach will eventually be pushed back upon, and that you, as the ABC Board, may also be facing extinction, like the many restaurants and bars and taverns that you will be shutting down today. I beg you to vote with wisdom and concern for all people.
Alabama is sometimes antiquated. Antiquated in speech. Antiquated in tradition. And antiquated with public policy. The ABC Board is the most egregious of them all, as any restaurant, bar, tavern, or any place legally allowed to serve liquor must obtain the product by visiting a state run liquor store. Even private liquor stores must compete in a dubious manner with their own government. The practice dates back to our country’s failed prohibition (though, as our federal and state marijuana policies have shown, we do not learn our lessons well) and has lasted nearly a century. EVERY place that serves liquor MUST obtain their liquor directly from the state run ABC store. They must purchase a vehicle, obtain insurance, pay someone, and unload it themselves weekly. This adds cost to an already high price, and hurts every consumer in the state who imbibes.
Alabama dram shop laws make it prohibitively expensive to serve alcoholic beverages in our state as well. Did you know, from an insurance standpoint, that Alabama is the most expensive state to obtain liquor liability insurance, which your favorite restaurant or bar must have in order to obtain a license? FULL DISCLOSURE: If you’ve read this far, you probably know I am an insurance agency principal, and make money off of these policies. Please note that I am trying to reduce these premiums, which will lower my income. What a breath of fresh air, ey!
It is time to open up private industry and create jobs.
It is time to decrease the regulations and the laws and stay true to conservative, limited government principles.
It is time to end the bureaucratically run, inefficient, burdensome ABC Board, and announce that Alabamians and restaurant owners alike can be free to enjoy the righteousness of private enterprise.
