Texas Passes Alcohol To-Go Bill: Whatever Could Go Wrong?

DALLAS —As Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" likes to remind us, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

The Texas Senate has voted in favor of HB 1024, a bill that locks in perpetuity the governor's pandemic waiver permitting restaurants to sell wine, beer and cocktails to go. The vote, 30-1, wasn't even close. Cheers!

The law will allow both pickup and delivery orders to include alcoholic beverages. This is the same brand of "civilization" that New Orleanians have been crowing about for decades. There, bartenders and owners alike love the idea of "go-cups" that allow patrons to buy a drink in one establishment and wander out into the street with its contents intact, no questions asked.

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What no one cares to mention is that native New Orleanians always keep handy a pair of what they call "French Quarter shoes" — that old beat-up pair you're glad you're wearing when you accidentally step in a drink someone else couldn't keep down.

Of course, Texans can hold their liquor better than any French Quarter tourist. We bet.

The practice of drinks-to-go is certainly nothing new to the COVID-battered Lone Star food industry, since Abbott's emergency waiver has been in effect since June of last year. Because restaurants were forced by the pandemic to limit capacity and therefore had their profit ceiling descend like the trash compactor scene in Star Wars, the measure came as welcome relief that had everything to do with keeping many restaurants (and their clientele) afloat.

What's more, the concept has caught on nationwide as well, with more than 30 states making room for booze-on-the-go. And for any Texan who's spent time in Lubbock (say as a student at Texas Tech), the idea of driving to the outskirts of town specifically for a little taste is as Texan as tumbleweeds.

The proposed law already enjoys widespread support — including endorsements from the Texas Package Stores Association and the Texas Restaurant Association.

Anticipation of the bill becoming law (which Gov. Abbott supports) is running high, and prompted no less than the Senior Director of State Government Relations of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States Kristi Brown to issue a statement:

“Bars and restaurants in Texas have leaned on cocktails to-go throughout the pandemic as a lifeline to keep their doors open and generate revenue," says the news release. "Now, the legislature has taken action to make this critical measure permanent and provide long-term support for Texas businesses. We thank Governor Abbott for being a vocal supporter of cocktails to-go and encourage him to sign this bill as soon as possible and make the business- and consumer-friendly measure permanent in Texas.”

It's hard not to see this looming law as one more nail in the coffin of those teetotalers who ushered in Prohibition a century ago.

Tavern owners and restaurateurs are now busy dreaming up ways to recoup the revenues they lost last year due to COVID-19. And good for them.

Then it's up to us. Because while "Frankenstein" does provide one perspective, maybe Spider-Man's more recent credo resonates better in 2021: With great power comes great responsibility.

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