(Senate Law and Public Safety Committee & Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee) – Removes plenary distribution license limit for certain stores thereby eliminating the two-license limitation…

Position: Strongly Oppose. This bill eliminates the two-license limitation on package goods stores effectively hurting the Mom-and-Pop retail stores and threatening the investments of our community members. This legislation would allow big box stores to acquire more licenses at the expense of local businesses.

(Senate Law and Public Safety Committee & Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee) – Makes various revisions to alcoholic beverage licensing laws pertaining to certain retailers and manufacturers; provides tax credit under corporate business tax and gross income tax to certain retail licensees.

Position: Strongly Oppose. This is Governor Murphy’s unsuccessful attempt at “license reform” in the last session. It has been re-introduced in the current session. This bill would add new liquor licenses and immediately devalue the businesses of current license holders. This would be unfair to those who invested in purchasing a license.

(Senate Law and Public Safety Committee) – Allows municipalities to transfer inactive alcoholic beverage retail licenses for use in redevelopment areas under certain circumstances; allows retail distribution and seasonal consumption licenses to be converted into consumption licenses.

Position: Strongly Oppose. This bill would allow package store licenses to move from one municipality to another. The compromise reform bill passed last session allows a license that remains inactive for two consecutive years to expire except that a municipality may extend the inactive license for an additional year. The bill provided for a process of transferring older inactive licenses in groups over a period of four years following the bill’s effective date. Additionally, a municipality that reached the license population cap could issue an RFP to acquire an inactive license from a neighboring municipality and issue a new Class C license at public sale if there was an inactive Class C license that had not been renewed within eight years prior. This bill would expand on that compromise.