Iowa law prohibits alcohol sales other than beer and wine in the same space where people pay for gasoline and other goods, said the report. Some Iowa gas stations [image-nocss] have built separate rooms with separate doors and separate cash registers.
The Senate provision to House File 809 would have done away with the separate room requirement, the report added.
State Representative Bruce Hunter (D) successfully proposed killing the provision. Hunter and several other representatives said the idea should have been considered as its own bill so that the public would have a better opportunity to evaluate it.
"I believe this is major policy and it's a major shift from what we have in current law," said State Rep. Dwayne Alons (R). "This should have been a separate bill."
Supporters have said the change would have reduced the burden and expenses for small business owners and help rural Iowa stores offer more goods and services to nearby residents. Opponents like Hunter, however, fear it could encourage teen drinking.
According to the newspaper, State Rep. Steve Lukan (R) spoke in favor of easing the restrictions for gas stations. "Today, we're making the decision for every single business owner out there. We're suddenly management. This is about keeping businesses open in a lot of places."
West Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go LC and the Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores of Iowa lobbied for the provision. "Convenience stores in Iowa have been hurt with lawmakers taking more and more products away from them," Dawn Carlson, a lobbyist for the association, whichrepresents 2,000 outlets, including Kum & Go stores, told the paper. "This would bring another product into retail sales."
In a statement obtained by the Register, Kum & Go senior vice president Randy Meyer and company lobbyist Matt Eide said, "This is not a major change. There are many convenience stores currently selling distilled spirits. This bill simply eases some of the requirements regarding placement of the distilled spirits in the store and eliminates the need for a separate register."
Hardeep Ballagan, owner of H&A Minimart in Des Moines, said it would mean more profit for him if he could put his liquor in the main part of his store and turn the liquor room into an office.
"A lot of people don't even know we have the liquor," he told the paper. Cigarette sales are down because of tax increases, he said, so if this proposal had become law, it would have helped his income.
Kum & Go spokesperson Meggan Kring said the company would sell liquor at 15% to 20% of its 190 stores if the proposal had been succesful. Currently, three or four of the chain's outlets have separate liquor rooms. Asked why Kum & Go favors this proposal, she told the paper, "Essentially, it's because customers have requested it. We are also in some small towns where customers don't have access to the products, and so this is something we're doing as an effort to please our customers."
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