Wis. Budget Allows Free Liquor Samples

Wisconsin lawmakers quietly slipped a provision into the overdue budget that allows liquor and grocery stores to hand out free samples of liquor.

Each customer could have up to three samples of half an ounce or less, or about a shot-and-a-half. Stores could offer the samples between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States pushed for the change after lawmakers previously allowed samples of beer and wine at stores.

It was unclear which lawmaker inserted the plan, which was made public on Monday afternoon in a 581-page summary of the budget that both houses approved Tuesday night, ending the nation's longest budget impasse.

Many stores have expressed reservations about allowing liquor samples and the plan wasn't exactly embraced on Tuesday by Gov. Jim Doyle, who has the power to veto it.

"We are not commenting on vetoes at this time," Doyle spokesman Matt Canter said.

The plan caught Mothers Against Drunk Driving by surprise. Its executive director in Wisconsin, Kari Kinnard, called on Doyle to veto the provision after a reporter told her about it on Tuesday. She said the plan would encourage drinking and driving.

"Wisconsin has such a problem with the drinking culture and we're going to go in grocery stores and promote alcohol even more?" she said. "It needs to stop."

She said she didn't believe 1.5 ounces of liquor would be enough to put drivers over the legal limit but "we are sending the message that it's OK to drink and then get behind the wheel of your car."

Patrick Essie, a Wisconsin lobbyist for the spirits council, called the samples "a natural progression" after lawmakers in April allowed stores to hand out 6 ounces of free beer. Stores could already allow customers two wine samples no bigger than 3 ounces each.

He said 22 other states have similar laws and the spirits council is unaware of any problems involving the samples elsewhere. He said 1.5 ounces of liquor is about the same amount of alcohol in the wine samples.

Liquor companies have found that sampling encourages customers to drink pricier brands, he said. Customers want a taste before they put down $40 for a fine whiskey, for instance.

"You can't get through a grocery store nowadays without someone sampling Jimmy Dean pork sausage or a small sip of wine," Essie said. "We wanted to be part of that consumer movement."

Essie laughed when asked whether stores would hand out a sample shot -- with a free beer as a chaser.

"I don't think that will happen," he said. "But I suppose shoppers could start with a Bloody Mary and end up with a liqueur at the end of their trip."