Pick up alcohol in your car? SC groups push to make COVID-19 curbside pickup permanent
South Carolina lawmakers this year could make it easier to pick up alcohol by simply staying in the car.
Powerful South Carolina trade groups and retail package stores are loudly lining up behind legislation before state lawmakers this year that would make curbside alcohol pickup permanent law, rather than temporary for COVID-19.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Henry McMaster relaxed regulatory rules on alcohol sales to help limit the number of people standing inside retail stores that would, in effect, keep customers from contracting the respiratory virus.
But the governor’s COVID-19 emergency order will not last forever, and now proponents of H. 3575 want the Legislature to codify the governor’s provision allowing retailers to sell beer and wine to deliver it just outside their doors.
Some advocates want the law to extend even further, allowing for liquor pickup too and drive-thru service.
Not only is it more convenient — a customer can order online, park curbside and show the employee their ID — a panel of S.C. House members heard Wednesday, but advocates testified that it helps parents who are unable to leave their small children and South Carolinians who may have mobility issues getting out of their cars.
Under the governor’s order, retail stores, including grocery stores and big box stores that sell beer and wine such as Target, can opt in to curbside pickup. But while many retailers have opted into the temporary service, some larger stores have not — not because they are opposed to it, lawmakers heard, but in part because it would take time to reeducate customers on what is and is not allowed.
“We’ve been doing it ... for almost a year. The pandemic did give us the opportunity to have this pilot program to do this,” said Rebecca Leach, head of the South Carolina Retail Association, who told lawmakers the State Law Enforcement Division and the state Department of Revenue have not relayed any issues about pickup to her since it was implemented last year.
SLED spokesman Tommy Crosby confirmed the agency has not run across any major issues or concerns related to enforcement since the governor’s emergency order took effect.
“It’s simply just moving the cash register to the curb and not really changing anything differently from a customer going inside and purchasing the same exact item,” Leach said.
Right now, nearly 34 other states permanently allow curbside alcohol pick up, Leach said.
That includes all of South Carolina’s border states and states in the Southeast, with the exception of Alabama, which is considering the same legislation. Four states, including South Carolina, are operating under similar COVID-19 emergency orders that allow for temporary pickup, and all are looking to make those measures permanent law, Leach said.
Though a panel of House Judiciary Committee members on Wednesday moved a vote on the bill to another day, the measure is sure to have its detractors. Alcohol-related bills typically meet obstacles in the South Carolina Legislature, particularly from the chamber’s more conservative members. But Democrats too have opposed loosening restrictions.
Last session, similar legislation in the House and the Senate did not get enough support to move out of committees.
In the Senate, that was due in part to opposition from SLED and state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, who opposed making alcohol more accessible to underage people. Both also worried that loosening restrictions could promote drunk driving.
“My initial reaction to curbside liquor, I would oppose it. Now, ... I’m not dug in on that and I would be willing to discuss it,” said Harpootlian, D-Richland, who serves in a chamber where members there have more power to stall and stop legislation. “As long as it’s not a convenience store — you can’t pull up to a 7/11 and they bring it out to you.”
The state reported more than 5,000 collisions involving drugs or alcohol in 2019 and 2018.
South Carolina has recorded a decrease in the past few years of alcohol-impaired driving deaths, according to the latest 2019 figures from the state Department of Public Safety. Preliminary 2019 numbers show 285 deaths, compared with 290 the year prior and — at the highest over the past few years — 343 in 2016. Last year’s figures won’t be available until later this year.
Laura Hudson, who lobbies on behalf of the S.C. Crime Victim’s Council, told lawmakers Wednesday her concerns about similar past legislation remain the same. She said the age of the employee delivering the alcohol should be higher than 18.
Special training should be mandatory to recognize whether a customer is underage or inebriated, she said, and the curbside pickup should only be delivered in daylight hours.
Retailers, however, argue that curbside pickup and policing would be no different than a customer walking inside.
The legislation also is backed by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
“I think during this pandemic, we’ve proven that we can all do it in a safe and responsible manner,” said Baylen Moore, lobbyist for Total Wine & More, who asked lawmakers that the bill extend also to liquor. “We’ve proven that consumers want it, they demand it.”
Emily Bohatch contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Pick up alcohol in your car? SC groups push to make COVID-19 curbside pickup permanent."
