SALEM, Ore. — Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill Friday that permanently allows bars and restaurants in Oregon to serve to-go cocktails.
Senate Bill 317 allows licensed establishments to sell “mixed drinks and single servings of wine in sealed containers for off-premises consumption."
The bill was approved by the Oregon House in a 51-7 vote earlier this month. It cleared the Senate back in March.
In December, state lawmakers approved a law temporarily allowing to-go cocktails as a way to help struggling businesses stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
Around that time, Shine Distillery and Grill owner Jon Poteet told KGW the ability to sell cocktails with takeout orders is a privilege.
“We don't want to mess it up. We want to do this correctly, we want to do it safely and we want to show the OLCC (Oregon Liquor Control Commission) that this can work for the future, not just the pandemic," he said in a December interview.
In the summer of 2020, early in the pandemic, bartenders created a petition to legalize to-go cocktails in Oregon. That petition received more than 3,500 signatures.