SB86: SB86 Alcoholic Beverages; retail dealers to offer discounts to consumers through premiums, coupons, or rebates on alcoholic beverages purchased for consumption off the premises; authorize

Under current Georgia law, retail alcohol sellers face restrictions on how they can lower prices for consumers. This bill would add a new section to Georgia's alcoholic beverage code (O.C.G.A. Title 3) letting any retail dealer offer a 'discount', defined as a lower price through a premium, coupon, or rebate, on alcohol sold for consumption off the premises. The discount must apply at all of that dealer's licensed locations, cannot favor one brand, and the dealer (not a manufacturer) must pay all related costs. The sale price still cannot go below what the dealer paid, including local excise tax. Separately, the bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 3-15-2 to let retail package liquor stores hold up to 104 tasting events a year, double the current 52-event limit, while keeping existing rules on hours, pour sizes, and notifying local governments. The changes would take effect as soon as the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law.

• Creates a new Georgia code section (O.C.G.A. § 3-3-12) allowing retail alcohol dealers to offer discounts through premiums, coupons, or rebates on alcohol sold for off-premises consumption.
• Requires any such discount to apply at all of a dealer's licensed locations and prohibits discounts tied to a specific brand.
• Requires the retail dealer, not the alcohol manufacturer, to cover all costs of the discount, including printing, advertising, and redemption.
• Bans discounting alcohol below the dealer's actual cost, defined as wholesale price plus local excise tax.
• Doubles the annual cap on tasting events at retail package liquor stores from 52 to 104 per year under O.C.G.A. § 3-15-2, while keeping existing rules on pour limits, hours, and local notification.

Retail alcohol dealers and package liquor stores across Georgia, consumers who buy beer, wine, or spirits for home use, alcohol manufacturers and wholesalers whose promotional practices are restricted, and county and municipal governments that regulate local tasting events.

Shoppers could see more coupons, rebates, and price promotions on alcohol bought for home use, and package stores could host twice as many tasting events. Manufacturers would be barred from funding these discounts, keeping the cost and marketing decisions with the retailer.

• Section 1 adds O.C.G.A. § 3-3-12, defining 'discount' and allowing retail dealers to offer premiums, coupons, or rebates on off-premises alcohol sales.
• Section 1 requires discounts to be offered uniformly across all of a dealer's licensed premises and bars brand-specific discounts.
• Section 1 requires the retail dealer to bear all discount-related costs and prohibits sourcing the discount, directly or indirectly, from a manufacturer.
• Section 1 sets a price floor equal to wholesale cost plus local excise tax, based on invoices the commissioner may require to be kept on site.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 3-15-2 to raise the annual tasting event cap for retail package liquor stores from 52 to 104 events, keeping existing limits on pour sizes, event duration, and local notice requirements.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval or the date the bill otherwise becomes law.

1. 2026-02-06Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
2. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
3. 2026-01-12Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
4. 2025-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
5. 2025-02-20Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
6. 2025-02-19Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2025-02-04Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2025-02-03Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)Primary sponsor
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• David Lucas (D, SD-026)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)

• alcohol sales
• liquor stores
• consumer discounts
• retail regulation
• alcohol tasting events