HELENA - Montanans could have beer and wine delivered to their doors by services like DoorDash if a bill in front of the House of Representatives passes.
House Bill 211, sponsored by Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, would require delivery drivers to be 21 years old, get a license to deliver alcohol and not have been convicted of driving under the influence in the past seven years.
Tom Kerr is the general counsel for the Adult Beverage Alliance, a trade association that includes Amazon, DoorDash, Grubhub, Shift, and Uber. He supported the bill at a committee hearing Monday.
”Alcohol delivery is currently allowed in 40 states. Delivery by third parties, like the Adult Beverage Alliance members, is allowed in 30 states, and third parties are required to obtain a permit in 18 of those states,” Kerr told the House Taxation Committee.
Anna Powell, senior manager of government relations in the northwest for DoorDash, also supported the bill.
“ When it comes to delivering alcohol, nothing is more important to DoorDash than safety. It's why we've led the industry with a four-step compliance check at the door before delivery may be completed,” Powell said.
Powell said DoorDash uses ID verification, refuses delivery to customers showing visible signs of intoxication, blocks deliveries in high-risk areas and gives penalty-free returns for both drivers and customers.
HB 211 would only allow delivery from businesses with off-premise alcohol sale licenses. There were no opponents to the bill.
Clayton Murphy is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Murphy can be reached at clayton.murphy@umconnect.umt.edu.
