Extension of drinks to-go, other pandemic-related provisions, likely to be renewed under state spending plan

Pending a signature from Gov. Maura Healey, Bay State residents are likely to continue being allowed to purchase espresso martinis and other to-go libations with takeout meals from their favorite restaurants.

State lawmakers have approved a spending plan that would extend drinks-to-go and other provisions that popped up during the pandemic, such as outdoor dining regulations and remote access to public meetings.

Selling cocktails, beer and wine with takeout and delivery orders proved to be a lifeline for restaurants, especially when they shuttered during the pandemic’s infancy, said Lesley Delaney Hawkins, former executive secretary of the Boston Licensing Board.

Restaurants are likely to keep that option for another year if and when Healey greenlights the $389 million supplemental budget request.

“The pandemic is on the back burner, but the impacts are still very real. You’re still seeing restaurants that didn’t reopen,” Delaney Hawkins told the Herald. “People aren’t necessarily comfortable sitting down and having dinner or lunch. This is another option that benefits the consumers and the restaurants.”

Addiction prevention specialists and package store leaders say they oppose to-go drinks because they believe the option has created another avenue for underage drinking. They argue there’s been an increase in minors consuming alcohol, placing the blame on the difficulty of enforcing third-party delivery networks, like Uber Eats and DoorDash.

Heidi Heilman, president of the Massachusetts Addiction Prevention Alliance, pointed to a small research study that Boston University conducted last year in which a majority of to-go drink recipients reported no one checked their IDs upon order delivery. Some of the 15 deliveries went to college dorms without ID verification.

“We are seeing illegal sales to minors increase through this particular measure,” Heilman told the Herald on Saturday. “We just don’t think the benefits to restaurants are going to outweigh the harms it creates by exacerbating our drinking problem in Massachusetts.”

A spokesman for the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission confirmed to the Herald there have been no violations of on-premise establishments — restaurants, bars and hotels — providing alcohol to underage consumers since to-go drinks emerged.

“With the pandemic, we want to find the silver lining,” said Delaney Hawkins, a partner who chairs the restaurant and hospitality industry for Prince Lobel Tye LLP. “Drinks to-go, I don’t see any downside. It’s just another tool for the restaurant industry to get back on its feet.”

Sixteen states and Washington D.C. have passed legislation making cocktails to-go permanent, while Massachusetts and 13 other states adopted temporary to-go legislation.

In a survey from the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, roughly 40% of adults stated if a restaurant includes to-go drinks with takeout, they’re more likely to choose it over an establishment that doesn’t.

“Cocktails to-go continues to be a revenue source for restaurants, and it’s not something that’s going to go away anytime soon because customers still rely on takeout and delivery,”  MAR director of government affairs Steve Clark told the Herald.

Robert Mellion, executive director for the Massachusetts Package Store Association, believes drinks to-go shouldn’t have lasted more than a year. The emergency provision has allowed on-premise establishments to become off-premise retailers of alcohol, he said, adding it has led to unnecessary competition between package stores and restaurants.

“If this goes on for another year, we are going to be pushing hard for enforcement,” Mellion said Saturday. “We were told by the legislature last year that this was the last year of drinks to-go. … That’s the reason you’re seeing us run around with our hair on fire.”