![]() In seven months, Oklahomans will be able to buy full-strength beer and wine from grocery and convenience stores and purchase cold beer and items that dont contain alcohol at liquor stores. Three thousand of them versus 29 of us isnt going to go very far. Shrinking budget This is an agency with 29 full-time employees statewide, Barker said. ABLE Commission estimates an additional 3,000 alcohol-sale licensees to regulate under the new laws. This October, the state ushers in a host of new alcohol laws allowing grocery and convenience stores to sell full-strength beer and wine if licensed. The unconstitutional fee of $1.50 per pack of cigarette and lawmakers failures to pass revenue-raising measures remains relevant for ABLE Commission months later. Granted, thats small potatoes for the other agencies, but that was 40 percent of our budget that fell by the wayside. ![]() Well, there were four, Steven Barker, the commissions general counsel, told Oklahoma Gazette. You often hear about the three agencies affected. ABLE Commission leaders earmarked those funds for hiring six new law enforcement agents to join the 16 agents statewide in conducting tobacco and liquor compliance checks. Tucked inside the Smoking Cessation and Prevention Act of 2017 was language prompting $1 million in collected fees to go to the state agency. State legislators were forced to return to the Capitol to fill the $215 million budget gap.Ī lesser-known impact of the courts ruling was on the ABLE Commission. The decision made headlines as three health-focused state agencies saw swaths of funding carved out of already-shrinking budgets. Two months before the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission began accepting interim licenses to allow wholesalers, grocers and convenience store retailers to purchase, stock and sell full-strength beer and wine, the Oklahoma Supreme Court declared a fee on cigarettes unconstitutional. ![]() More work, fewer resources: The ABLE Commission today has far fewer employees and a much smaller budget than it had it 1986, yet will be expected to process up to 3,000 new liquor licenses leading up to the law changes on Oct. ![]()
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