The post from Wednesday about an amended version of Senate Bill 54 – an odd little unthoughful piece of legislation regarding liquor delivery by retailers in Illinois – detailed the many failings of the draft legislation. The least of which was an inconsistency and failure to recognize that shipping and delivery are both used in a portion of the liquor control act granting those rights to retailers.
Following the post, a Representative from Chicago proposed an amendment to the bill exempting the entirety of the City of Chicago from statute. So Chicago would be free to pass restrictions regarding delivery and wouldn’t be bound by the bill. Oddly, the Representative introducing the exemption for Chicago is the same Representive that introduced the restrictive and silly version of the bill we wrote about. What gives?
Is it really the state of the State that Chicago introduces restrictive, nonsensical, and burdensome, legislation to weigh down and govern the conduct of the rest of Illinois but not itself?
The Representatives from the rest of the State should tell Chicago to eat its own crappy legislation and make it solely binding on Chicago and not the rest of us.
To date, not a single person writing or commenting on Wednesday’s post has been able to tell me what the purpose or necessity of the alcohol delivery bill is. I don’t believe they’ll be able to, btw, as shipping through a third party-carrier is thankfully unaffected by the bill and continues as a viable option for retailers to send beer, wine, and spirits, throughout the state, without any form of distance restriction. This means small businesses – retailers, bars, restaurants, packaged goods stores, won’t have to worry and can use UPS and FedEx (presuming they’ll accept the beverages) to ship throughout the state and make money allowing adults access to a lawful product.
Given that there’s no purpose to this bill, here’s what you should ask your State Representatives and Senators to do, NOTHING. Honestly, DON’T MESS WITH DELIVERY. Just let this bill sit in a committee and die. If there are delivery or shipping standards necessary for some business purpose, then propose that the ILCC adopt a regulation – you can propose regulations and request rules thanks to the Illinois Liquor Control Act, the Illinois Administrative Procedures Act and the Administrative Rules of the Commission. And they’re knowledgeable and thoughtful people who – guess what – have some experience in liquor issues. So let the Illinois Liquor Control Commission formulate, propose, revise, and approve a regulation regarding retailer delivery if you think you need it:
a) Any interested person may petition this Commission requesting the adoption, amendment or repeal of a rule. Such petition shall be submitted in writing to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St., Suite 5-300, Chicago, Illinois 60601 or 101 W. Jefferson St., Springfield, Illinois 62702. Six copies of each petition along with any supporting documents shall be submitted in the following form:
1) Petition for (Adoption, Amendment, Repeal) of (a) Rule (Rule No. if Applicable) of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.
2) I, (Name of Interested Party), do hereby petition the Illinois Liquor Control Commission to (Adopt, Amend, Repeal) (a) Rule (Rule No. if Applicable) for the following reasons:
3) (State reasons as fully as possible. Attach or include any documentation for your reasons.)