Good Government
Free Market Friday: ABLE to regulate
September 2, 2016
Jonathan Small
“Raise a glass to freedom,” the hit musical Hamilton recommends. Many Oklahomans did just that last Friday in celebration of Senate Bill 424.
Of course, implementing the law to allow beer sales at breweries almost didn’t happen. Last-minute hijinks at the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission threatened to nullify the legislation that had passed easily through the Legislature with bipartisan support.
ABLE Commission Director Keith Burt claimed the law was unclear. This was silly, since it was the purpose of the law and the text includes details like the hours when beer sales can be “distributed or consumed.”
What was really going on? And how can we make it easier to make common-sense reforms to alcohol laws?
As it turns out, the problem is not teetotalers. The kerfuffle over legalizing beer sales in Oklahoma breweries had almost nothing to do with alcohol at all.