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An Act To Improve the Availability of Agency Liquor Stores in Underserved Areas and To Expand the Sale of Spirits in New Channels
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  28-A MRSA §2, sub-§9-B  is enacted to read:
 
9-B.  Contract store.     "Contract store" means a person who is licensed by the bureau to sell spirits to be consumed off the premises under section 453, subsection 2-F.
Sec. 2.  28-A MRSA §453, sub-§§2-E and 2-F  are enacted to read:
 
2-E.  Exception for underserved municipality.     Notwithstanding subsection 2-A, the bureau may license an agency liquor store in a municipality without an agency liquor store as long as an agency liquor store is not located within 3.5 miles of the municipality. The bureau may adopt rules to implement this subsection, including, but not limited to, rules regarding hours of operation, seasons of operation and inventory on hand. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
 
2-F.  Exception for interstate highways or airports.     Notwithstanding subsections 2-A and 2-E and section 1201, subsection 6, the bureau may license a contract store in a municipality along an interstate highway in the State or at a major airport in the State. With respect to a license issued pursuant to this subsection, the bureau shall enter into a contract for establishing a partnership for the management of the contract store for a term of 10 years. A contract must be awarded pursuant to a competitive bidding process similar to the process described under Title 5, chapter 155, subchapter 1-A. The bureau may not contract with a bidder who also holds a license in this State or another state to distill, bottle or manufacture spirits.
 
SUMMARY
This bill creates an exception to the limit on the number of agency liquor stores allowed by population threshold to allow the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations to license an agency liquor store in a municipality without an agency liquor store as long as an agency liquor store is not located within 3.5 miles of the municipality. With regard to such a store, it allows the bureau to adopt rules regarding hours, seasons of operation and inventory. It also allows the bureau to license stores in municipalities along interstate highways and at major airports in the State and requires the bureau to enter into contracts for the management of those stores.