OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma (RLAO) has launched a petition drive to update Oklahoma's liquor laws, essentially allowing full-strength, refrigerated beer into liquor, convenience and grocery stores.
In order to get the measure on this year's ballot, the association aims to collect about 125,000 signatures by the end of August.
"It won't be easy to get that many signatures in such a short amount of time," said Bryan Kerr, president of the RLAO, "but we'll have petitions at every liquor store that supports change throughout the state."
If the RLAO is successful in collecting the necessary signatures, the proposal would go on the ballot as "SQ 791."
A competing measure—SQ 792—was passed by the state legislature in May and will appear on the ballot in November.
And while the two measures are similar, Kerr said there are some major differences:
- "SQ 792 has language hidden in it that reduces competition at the wholesale level, which would likely result in less selection and higher prices on the majority of beer, wine and spirits sold in Oklahoma," he said. "It essentially sets up a monopoly for some very rich guys in the wholesale business and their friends who own out-of-state distributors. This would not be good for the consumer. Our proposal, SQ 791, encourages competition at all tiers of alcohol sales and keeps ownership local."
- SQ 791 also would allow full-strength, refrigerated beer into liquor, convenience and grocery stores in July 2017. SQ 792, a proposal backed by Wal-Mart, other grocers and convenience stores, delays that until October 2018.
- Another major difference between the two is that SQ 791 mandates the age of anyone selling alcohol to be at least 18 with a 21-year-old present to supervise, while SQ 792 places no minimum on the age of the seller and requires no supervision.
- SQ 791 also directs funding to the state agency tasked with preventing underage access, drunk driving and other alcohol-related problems, as well as helping to fund the Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse.
"If we are going to increase access to stronger alcohol in 4,000 or more new locations, we should offset that by giving state agencies the money they need to do their job," Kerr said. "SQ 791 does that, SQ 792 does not."
The RLAO has set up a website to demonstrate the differences between the two measures at www.791vs792.com. The association is coordinating its petition drive through the website www.ColdBeerSooner.com.
The Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma was formed in 1982 and represents the men and women who have invested their time and money into providing quality alcohol beverages to their neighborhoods, cities and counties.
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