TRIP REPORT

by KYLE SWARTZ

NABCA President and CEO Neal Insley on the panel , " NABCA At Your Service ."

Alabama ABC Board COO Neil Graff discusses allocated whiskeys .

Steve Larson , Paul Kaspszak , Robin Dubendorf and Neal Insley .

Located between the beautiful leafy Allegheny Mountains , Charleston , WV served as the setting for the 29th annual National Alcohol Beverage Control Association Administrators Conference . Control state executives from across the country converged upon the state capitol for this multiday conference , comprised of educational panels and networking opportunities .

“ Part of our jobs is to get people together for these important conversations ,” said NABCA President and CEO Neal Insley , during the session , " NABCA At Your Service ." “ It surprises a lot of people that there is no meeting that NABCA doesn ’ t take a loss on . This is our purpose . This is the soul of NABCA .”

Echoing Insley was Eddie Wirt , NABCA CFO . “ The point of these meetings is to bring together people from all over the industry to talk about the most important , and hear how we can address them ,” Wirt said .

Important issues in 2023 included the continued challenge of direct-to-consumer alcohol shipping , legal and illegal ( especially the latter ).

“ To leave this issue sitting means the alcohol is coming into your state completely unfettered ,” said Ted Mahoney , Chief Investigator for the Mass . Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission . “ This is totally unregulated alcohol .”

Beyond bad actors shipping alcohol illicitly , states nationwide face legal challenges from out-of-state producers and retailers who claim legal discrimination when they cannot sell products across state lines .

“ These people want to get rid of the three-tier system altogether ,” warned Renee C . Metz , Assistant General Counsel , NC Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission . “ But we have to discriminate in some way , because we only have jurisdiction for so far . The 21st Amendment Enforcement Act is not an either / or . It gives leeway in alcohol-related issues to rule in favor of public safety measures .”

Nevertheless , legal challenges keep coming . For states that have not been sued yet in this area , Metz suggested , “ Take a look at your statures for anything potentially discriminatory , and get your data sets ready about what ’ s coming in and out of your states .

“ Have a cease-and-desist letter ready to go ,” she added . “ And when you get no response from that , know who in your Attorney General ’ s Office will take this on .”

On the subject of local delivery apps , Mark Smith , Shipt Director of State Government Affairs South , updated attendees on latest industry standards . He said that these included compensating delivery drivers who choose to return alcoholic product to the store , because the driver discovered the buyer to be underage , intoxicated or in some other condition inappropriate to receive alcohol .

“ We also work with the states for delivery driver training that both parties can agree on ,” he added , “ and then we allow a third party to administer that training .”

“ We see ourselves as an extension of the third tier ,” Smith continued . “ I would push back on the use of the term ‘ fourth tier ’, because we don ’ t have a license and we can ’ t sell alcohol .” www . stateways . com Winter 2023 • StateWays 5