ALBANY — A push is on at the statehouse to update what advocates for restaurants and taverns call antiquated laws governing retail liquor sales, bars and alcoholic beverage distributors.

Legislation is being crafted to embrace many, if not all, of 18 recommendations framed last month by the 21-member Commission to Study Reform of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

Sen. James Skoufis, D-Orange County, told CNHI he plans to introduce the measures at the state Capitol this week. The Legislature’s 2023 session is slated to conclude next month, so the Skoufis legislation could trigger a frenzied lobbying debate in the coming weeks as they would impact many beverage-related industries.

Some proposals would be of significance to the general public. The commission, for instance, is urging revisions to the vestige of a Sunday blue law that prohibits liquor stores from selling liquor before noon. The recommendation calls for allowing those sales to commence at 10 a.m. Sundays.

Another proposal, backed by restaurant trade groups, would cancel the blanket state restriction barring establishments from acquiring a liquor license if they sit within 200 feet of a house of worship or a school. The recommendation to eliminate the 200-foot rule was approved by a 15 to 1 vote of the commissioners.

New York bars and restaurants are now required to buy alcoholic beverages from distributors and are barred from buying the products from retailers. The commission wants to do away with that restriction by allowing the establishments to make retail purchases on a limited basis. The proposal is enthusiastically supported by the Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association.

Scott Wexler, the association’s executive director, said it is not uncommon for taverns and restaurants to run out of a particular brand of beverage on a weekend. If they purchase the product from a liquor store, they could face sanctions from state regulators, he said. Proposed legislation would allow those businesses to purchase a limited number of bottles from a retailer, tiding them over until their next delivery from a wholesaler.

“The legislation allows for 12 bottles; so that’s a pretty important recommendation for the Tavern Association,” Wexler said in an interview. “We think that will go a long way towards relieving the problem.”

There are also proposals to cut red tape and streamline the process for establishments to acquire a liquor license.

“These recommendations would reduce the time frame for new people going into business, and that certainly seems like a good idea to us,” Wexler commented.

Skoufis said he is looking forward to working with the Business Council of the State of New York and the New York State Restaurant Association in pushing for the proposed reforms.

The senator said: “Is the commission’s report and what they recommend transformative? I wouldn’t go that far. But does it take a meaningful step in the right direction to update this very antiquated system? Yes.”

Skoufis, who has been advocating for some of the proposal reforms since before the commission was even formed, said he will introduce an omnibus bill that mirrors the commission’s recommendations, adding: “I’m going to go back to my colleagues in the Senate and Assembly and the governor’s office and say: ‘Okay, this is what you’ve been waiting for for the past year. The commission’s work is done. You wanted to hear from the industry experts and the stakeholders. They’ve weighed in, and this is what they’re looking for. Here’s the bill that reflects exactly that. Let’s do it.'”

Presiding over the commission was Vincent Bradley, chairman of the State Liquor Authority.

The commission also included representatives of the state Department of Taxation and Finance, the Division of the Budget, Empire State Development, the State Police and appointees of the governor and legislative leaders, among others.

The commission decided against issuing a recommendation on a proposal that would change the state alcoholic beverage control law to allow on-premise licensees to have the ability to form a purchasing cooperative.