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Testimony of Andrew W. Herf, Ohio Licensed Beverage Association & Ohio Spirits Association — HB 669 (May 28, 2020)

Summary

Testimony of Andrew W. Herf, Executive Director of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association and the Ohio Spirits Association, before the Ohio House Commerce & Labor Committee in support of HB 669, dated May 28, 2020. It states support for making "cocktails to go" a permanent fixture in Ohio and for the patio expansion language. It states that the bill allows direct-to-consumer delivery of spirituous liquor by craft distillers and expresses concern about that provision, saying that direct to consumer shipping by an in-state manufacturer has traditionally been vetted as a standalone bill.

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“Testimony of Andrew W. Herf, Ohio Licensed Beverage Association & Ohio Spirits Association — HB 669 (May 28, 2020).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2020-05-28-commerce-labor-testimony-hb669herfproponent-6653163f6e/, SHA-256 78548e36e066d65acdd769d14cb4f24689b154bd3fd43403a4da9d38517d976e.

Full text

                           Testimony of Andrew W. Herf, Executive Director
                                Ohio Licensed Beverage Association &
                                       Ohio Spirits Association
                                              before the
                              Ohio House Commerce & Labor Committee
                                         in support of HB 669
                                             May 28, 2020


Chair Manning, Vice Chair Dean and Ranking Member Lepore-Hagan, thank you for the opportunity to
testify in support of HB 669 today.

My name is Andrew Herf and I am the Executive Director of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, and
the Executive Director of the Ohio Spirits Association.

I would like to take a few minutes to explain why the groups I represent support the bill, and I would like
to express concern for one of the provisions in the bill.

To begin, we support the measure to make “cocktails to go” a permanent fixture in Ohio. This provision
was first adopted as an executive order and has been responsible for saving some of the bars in Ohio—
so far. It served as a way to sell inventory, to make enough profit and in some cases to keep a bartender
employed and it served as a way for bar owners to stay connected to their customers. But, just because
bar owners have reopened, they are not out of the woods yet. They face heightened regulations, and
smaller crowd sizes due to social distancing. Many consumers are afraid to go back to their local
establishments either because they have other health issues, are elderly or are simply continuing to stay
home. Bar owners want to continue to offer those customers the same service going forward that they
have become accustomed to over the last several weeks.

The shutdown has been devastating for many small businesses and we are thankful that the DeWine
administration was willing to experiment with a creative tool to help businesses survive. The
experiment has been successful and we agree that making it a permanent feature in Ohio law can be
done safely.

We also support the patio expansion language. Patios were the first places to open before customers
were allowed inside establishments. Patios provide a great way to spread customers out and to get
people out into fresh air and sunshine. After Memorial Day, many customers prefer to be outside, and
HB 669 will streamline the process to allow for patio expansions.

Finally, I would like to address an issue of concern in the bill. The bill allows for direct-to-consumer
delivery of spirituous liquor by craft distillers. Direct to consumer shipping by an in-state manufacturer
has traditionally been vetted as a standalone bill.

Again, I would like to thank Representative Swearingen and LaRe for introducing HB 669 and for your
time as a committee. I am happy to answer questions.

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