To-Go Drinks In PA: Political Impasse Over Them Could Be Ending

HARRISBURG, PA — Margarita to go, anyone?

Pennsylvania's bars and restaurants are closer to being able to sell takeout mixed drinks like they did during the coronavirus outbreak until Gov. Tom Wolf's pandemic disaster emergency declaration expired earlier this month.

The state House has approved a bill that would allow eateries and taverns to permanently sell takeout cocktails, eliminating a controversial portion that would have permitted most businesses selling alcohol to sell ready-to-drink cocktails.

Gov. Tom Wolf has threatened to veto the measure because of that provision. Wolf signed the original cocktails to-go law in May 2020, during the height of the coronavirus shutdowns, as a way to aid bars and restaurants financially harmed by the state's virus mitigation
mandates.

The abridged version of the bill now goes back to the state Senate, which inserted the provision before sending the legislation to the House.

The bill permits restaurants, taverns and hotel bars that sell takeout food to sell sealed containers of as much as 64 ounces of mixed drinks to-go. Sales would have to stop at 11 p.m.

Motorists ordering takeout drinks would be required to place them in their vehicle's trunk or another area unoccupied by the driver or any passengers.

See the entire bill here.

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