The Colorado Restaurant Association on Tuesday threw its support behind a ballot measure seeking to legalize alcohol delivery by third-party companies.

Proposition 126, also called “Third-Party Delivery of Alcohol Beverages,” would allow third-party delivery companies such as UberEats and DoorDash to deliver alcoholic beverages from restaurants, bars and liquor stores. The association said third-party alcohol delivery would help local businesses that are still struggling financially from reduced revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More importantly, though, the association said the proposition would permanently secure the legality of to-go alcohol. At the beginning of the pandemic, the state passed a law temporarily allowing the sale of alcohol for takeout and delivery through 2025.

“We have lobbied fiercely for this allowance since the onset of the pandemic,” said Sonia Riggs, president and CEO of the CRA. “Now, after two-plus years of pandemic-related hardship, continued labor shortages, skyrocketing inflation and fuel prices, and supply chain disruptions, permanently securing alcohol to-go for restaurants and bars cannot come at a better time.”

In July, 75% of respondents of a CRA survey said they would utilize third-party alcohol delivery if Proposition 126 passes in November. CRA represents more than 12,500 restaurants and bars across the state. 

One of the restaurant owners eager to jump on third-party alcohol delivery is Daniel Ramirez, CRA chairman and co-owner of the Los Dos Potrillos restaurants.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, alcohol to-go really helped our business through additional sales, but it also allowed us to provide for our customers where they were: in their homes,” Ramirez said. “If third-party delivery companies can deliver alcohol with our food, that helps us continue providing deeper hospitality to our customers who wish to have their food delivered.”

Colorado’s ballot certified for November election

While restaurant owners say the proposition would help keep their doors open, liquor store owners claim it would put them out of business. 

Keeping Colorado Local said it represents hundreds of independent liquor stores that oppose Proposition 126, in addition to two other alcohol-related measures on the ballot this November: Proposition 125 to allow grocery stores to sell wine and Proposition 124 to eliminate the limit on liquor stores operated by one person/business. 

The coalition said the propositions threaten the more than 1,600 small liquor businesses in Colorado by increasing competition from grocery stores, restaurants and national liquor corporations.

The coalition also raised safety concerns about allowing third-party companies to deliver alcohol, saying it will open the door for underaged drinking and alcohol abuse.

“My entire staff takes training on how to recognize when someone shouldn’t be sold liquor, whether it is that they are underage, to whether they’re intoxicated in any way,” said Chris Carran of Locals Liquors in Silverthorne. “Not only for their own safety, but also for the safety of the community that we operate in.”

Coloradans will vote on the propositions, as well as on eight other statewide ballot measures, during the general election on Nov. 8.

Local governments’ participation is crucial to goals of $300 million ballot measure, analysis says