Two Popular Items That Are Still Banned At Grocery Stores in Minnesota In 2024
Seeing as it's now 2024, there are several new laws now in effect in Minnesota making several things now legal to do. But there are two popular items you can buy at grocery stores in just about every other state, that remain banned here in Minnesota.
While 2024 has brought a slate of new laws to the North Star State, two popular things remain on the banned list for Minnesota grocery stores again this year: Wine and beer.
Now, grocery stores in the Bold North *can* sell beer, but as we all know, the beer that grocery stores can legally sell in Minnesota is that strange '3.2' beer, or 'near beer' as it's sometimes called. And the Gopher State is currently the *only* state where that product (which contains less alcohol by volume than regular beer) is still sold.
READ MORE: Why Is MN The Only State That Sells This Strange Beverage?
Last year, grocery and convenience store owners were hoping that a bill that would allow them to sell regular beer and wine might have been included in the massive two-year budget bill that eventually passed last May. But, even before that session came to an end, two state lawmakers said making wine and beer sales legal at grocery stores in Minnesota wasn't something they'd be taking up.
According to this Minn Post (MP) story, DFL Senator Matt Klein and Representative Zack Stephenson are the leaders of the two commerce committees in charge of liquor laws. And they said last year that they would NOT hear any bills that would allow grocery and convenience stores to sell stronger beer and wine. And, sure enough, they didn't.
Why not? Well, the MP story notes several reasons WHY Klein and Stephenson put the kibosh on moving Minnesota's outdated liquor laws forward, and it all comes down to the alcohol bill the Legislature passed in 2022. (That was the 'Free The Growler' law which, after being previously stymied, FINALLY passed nearly two years ago. It's the law that allows craft breweries to sell more of their own beer.)
This year's legislative session is scheduled to get underway on February 12, 2024, up in St. Paul. And while there's been no word yet on taking up a provision to legalize sales of wine and beer at grocery and convenience stores, maybe this will finally be the year.
In the meantime, until those legislators decide to actually *do* their jobs,if you want to get your fix of wine or beer here in the Land of 10,000 Ridiculously Outdated Laws Lakes, you'll still have to hit up your local liquor store (which I love, btw.) At least they're allowed to be open on Sundays, right?
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