Georgia CommonsSenate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SB 86: Alcoholic Beverages; retail dealers to offer discounts to consumers through premiums, coupons, or rebates on alcoholic beverages purchased for consumption off the premises; authorize
Last action February 6, 2026 · Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
A Georgia Senate bill would let retail stores offer discounts, coupons, or rebates on alcohol sold for off-premises consumption, and would double the number of in-store tasting events package liquor stores can hold each year.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Currently Georgia law restricts how retail alcohol dealers can lower prices for consumers, and package liquor stores are limited to 52 in-store tasting events per year. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's alcoholic beverage code (O.C.G.A. Title 3) allowing any retail dealer to offer discounts through premiums, coupons, or rebates on alcohol sold for consumption off the premises, as long as several conditions are met. The discount must apply at all of that dealer's licensed locations, cannot favor one brand, must be paid for entirely by the retailer rather than funded by a manufacturer, and cannot bring the sale price below what the retailer paid (wholesale price plus local excise tax). Separately, the bill raises the annual cap on tasting events at retail package liquor stores from 52 to 104 per year, while keeping existing rules like one event per day, a four-hour limit, and pour-size caps. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.
What the bill does
- Creates a new Georgia code section (3-3-12) letting retail alcohol dealers offer discounts through premiums, coupons, or rebates on alcohol sold for off-site consumption.
- Requires any such discount to be offered at all of a retail dealer's licensed locations and to not favor a specific alcohol brand.
- Bars retailers from funding these discounts using money from alcohol manufacturers, requiring the retailer to bear all related costs itself.
- Prohibits discounts that would sell alcohol below the retailer's actual cost, defined as wholesale price plus local excise tax.
- Doubles the number of tasting events a retail package liquor store may hold each year from 52 to 104, while keeping existing per-event rules unchanged.
- Sets the effective date as the day the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law without a signature.
Who it affects
Retail dealers of alcoholic beverages in Georgia, including package liquor stores, along with alcohol manufacturers and wholesalers whose promotional practices are restricted, and consumers who buy alcohol for consumption off the premises where they buy it.
Why it matters
Retail dealers could advertise price breaks like coupons or rebates on alcohol taken home, something current law does not clearly allow, while manufacturers would remain barred from subsidizing those discounts. Liquor stores could also host twice as many tasting events each year, giving customers more chances to sample products in store.
Key provisions
- Section 1 adds O.C.G.A. § 3-3-12, defining 'discount' as a lower price offered through a premium, coupon, or rebate.
- Section 1 requires that any discount be offered uniformly across all of a retail dealer's licensed premises and not target a specific brand.
- Section 1 requires the retail dealer to bear all costs of the discount itself, with no direct or indirect funding from a manufacturer.
- Section 1 bars discounts that would sell alcohol below the retailer's cost, defined as wholesale price plus local excise tax, based on invoices the commissioner may require on site.
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 3-15-2 to raise the annual limit on retail package liquor store tasting events from 52 to 104.
- Section 3 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval, or the date the bill becomes law without approval.
- Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“the term 'discount' means a lower price offered through the use of a premium, coupon, or rebate.”
“The discount does not result in any alcoholic beverages being sold at a price less than the cost which such retail dealer paid for such alcoholic beverages.”
Discussed in meetings (3)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, February 3, 2026
From 0:21:30 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor described SB 86 as a way to save consumers money. A representative for Total Wine said it would let retailers offer alcohol coupons and discounts without selling below purchase cost, and double permitted tastings to two weekly and 104 annually. The representative said more tastings would help smaller brands compete and listed support from retail, hospitality and small-business organizations. One member asked how discounts would work; the representative said participation would be optional. Another questioned whether bulk purchasing would give large stores an advantage. The representative said competitors’ purchase prices were private and could not give a definite answer. A retired public-health physician opposed the bill, saying excessive drinking kills more than 5,000 Georgians annually, costs $6.9 billion, and increases as prices fall. A Georgia Baptist Mission Board witness also opposed it, arguing that greater sales would increase consumption and potential harm. Asked about taxes, the Total Wine representative assumed taxes would apply to the discounted price but did not confirm that interpretation. A member supporting passage acknowledged alcohol-related harms but emphasized that alcohol is legal. The committee approved the substitute 9–5 and sent it to Rules.
Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, February 5, 2026
From 1:21:59 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair corrected the identification number of the substitute approved at the earlier meeting on alcoholic-beverage discounts. The chair said the approved version was LC 56-0556S and that no wording had changed. No new vote was taken.
Status timeline
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Recommitted (Senate)
- Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-31)
- Frank Ginn (R, SD-47)
- Carden Summers (R, SD-13)
- John Albers (R, SD-56)
- Sally Harrell (D, SD-40)
- Shawn Still (R, SD-48)
- David Lucas (D, SD-26)
- Freddie Powell Sims (D, SD-12)
Topics
- alcohol sales
- liquor store regulations
- retail discounts
- alcoholic beverage law