Albany, NY – Lobbyists Give Up On Wine-in-Supermarkets Bill

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    Albany, NY – The wine-in-supermarkets lobby, which has pushed millions of dollars into the effort to rewrite laws prohibiting the sale of wine in food stores, has slowed to a crawl this year, subdued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s opposition to the change.

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    The pro-grocery wine coalition, which has argued that expanding the retail landscape for wines will add jobs, raise revenue and in general be a boost for the upstate economy, operated under the name New Yorkers for Growth and Open Markets. Coalition members said last week that the group now exists more on paper than in lobbying or marketing reality, though other business or trade groups continue to advocate for change in the law.

    Michael Rosen, vice president for governmental relations at the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, a lobbying group for supermarkets, said that the New Yorkers for Growth and Open Markets effort essentially has been discontinued and is unlikely to come together again unless the state’s political leaders have a change of heart.

    “We still believe that this is the best course for the state. But until there’s a change in how the governor or the legislative leadership sees this, we won’t be actively pushing it,” Rosen said of the lobbying effort.


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    4 Comments
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    11 years ago

    Instead of worrying about having wine and presumably other alcoholic beverages sold in groceries, why isn’t there a ban to end the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in groceries? Isn’t there a dichotomy involved with this problem? On the one hand, the pharmacies at those groceries, are selling anti-tobacco products, in an effort to get people to stop smoking. On the other hand, a few aisles down, cigarettes are being sold. If people want to smoke their lungs out with cigarettes, let them buy that product in a tobacco store, and not in groceries, or in discount stores including Walmart, Meijers, K-Mart, etc.

    jlq3d3
    jlq3d3
    11 years ago

    Living out of NY in a state that allows alcohol to be sold in supermarkets, I just can’t comprehend the reasoning behind banning it.