Liquor Sales Battle Re-Emerges In Legislature

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - In the first moves toward what could be a renewed lobbying fight, two Miami-Dade County Republicans this week filed bills that would repeal a decades-old law that requires liquor stores to be stand-alone facilities.

Similar measures, backed by companies such as Target and Walmart, have drawn opposition in the past from independent liquor stores and companies such as Publix Supermarkets. Those measures have failed to pass.

Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, and Rep. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah, filed the bills this week for consideration during the 2017 legislative session.

"I am very disappointed that my senator, Senator Anitere Flores, would run a bill that would help out-of-state retailers to the detriment of small retailers, who have been operating under these laws for years, many here in the Miami-Dade area," said Pete Izaguirre, owner of Pantry Liquors in Miami. "Senator Flores based her campaign on walking this community and saying she is a friend to local small business – keeping that in mind, she should withdraw this legislation and put her community first over out-of-state corporations."

The Prohibition-era law requires separate places of business for the sale of liquor and other types of merchandise.

The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.