KENTUCKY — During this year’s 2021 Kentucky General Assembly legislative session, two alcohol-related bills passed both chambers and were signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear.

House Bill 415 was an update to last year’s historic direct-to-consumer alcohol shipping law that has become a model for the country.

Also, restaurants and bars will now permanently be able to sell alcohol, including cocktails, in sealed containers, for delivery and to-go orders.

Kentucky State Sen. John Schickel of Boone County is the primary sponsor of Senate Bill 67 and joins this In Focus Kentucky to talk about this legislation and much more.

"We didn't think it was necessary to reinvent the wheel when the Governor issued his orders to make these, to allow restaurants to do this temporarily. What we found was that it was working very well, and we didn't get any complaints from the public or law enforcement. The restaurant slide could because it gave them an opportunity to market their products, and sort of just made a lot of sense to do that during the pandemic, but then we thought, 'well, if it's working well during the pandemic, let's just make it permanent.' So we can help consumers have another choice and of course the restaurants benefit, benefit, plumbing, to increase," explained Sen. Shickel.