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North Carolinians won’t see any changes to the state’s liquor laws by the General Assembly this year because of disagreements over how a new Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission distribution warehouse should be built — or if it’s even necessary.
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Both chambers advanced different versions of a liquor law overhaul bill through multiple legislative committees for months.
Potential changes included permitting canned cocktails from brands like High Noon and Cutwater to be sold in grocery stores, just as beer and wine is, and allowing ABC stores to sell on Sundays.
But due to disagreements on the warehouse, any potential changes this year are dead in the water, according to lawmakers.
The News & Observer previously reported that House Republican Majority Leader Brenden Jones last year urged his colleagues to support a public-private partnership option to build the warehouse. He advocated for an amendment to a 2025 bill that would have allowed the ABC Commission to enter into that kind of partnership through purchase or a lease.
Records requested by The N&O show that the ABC Commission favored a $310 million loan to build a new complex with an automated warehouse, rather than a public-private option. Commission Chairman Hank Bauer told Jones that the public-private partnership was a “horrible” idea, The N&O previously reported.
Both ABC overhaul bills originated in the House.
House Bill 198, which included the $310 million loan option, made its way through Senate committees and gathered changes along the way. Senators voted last month to advance it, and the House decided not to concur with the new version.
Conferees were appointed to look at that bill and House Bill 921, which also made it through a couple of House committees, but any chance at a combined package bill fell through due to the warehouse disagreement.
Sen. Tim Moffitt, a Hendersonville Republican and the Senate chair for the ABC bill’s conference committee, which negotiates the final version of a bill, told The N&O after a Senate session on Wednesday that “the issue seems to be the difference between the two chambers on the appropriate path forward on the warehouse.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger also told The N&O that the differing opinions of the two chambers “on the construction of the ABC warehouse is the reason that we did not get an ABC bill this time.”
“I think the Senate position is the correct position with reference to that,” the Eden Republican said. “I don’t want to disparage public-private partnerships in general, but I think there was so much going on with that particular proposal that it’s not something that we should go further on.”
Demi Dowdy, spokesperson for Republican House Speaker Destin Hall, told The N&O that there were other disagreements between the chambers, including over the canned cocktail provision, that stalled the sweeping liquor bill.
She said the two chambers disagreed on whether the state can afford a warehouse and if it was necessary.
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“The Speaker is unconvinced we need a new warehouse at all,” she said. “Even if he did think that we need a new warehouse, there aren’t funds available to pay for either the ABC Commissioner’s idea or the public private partnership idea. [Hall] does not currently favor either proposal.”
Dowdy said the ABC Commission could, “without legislative action,” raise surcharges “and go into debt to pay for a new warehouse.”
“While we don’t endorse this method, it’s unclear why Chairman Bauer continues to make this the legislature’s problem to solve when he has all the tools he needs without new legislation,” she said.
A proposed provision in HB 921 would have allowed canned cocktails, which are typically a combination of spirits and drink mixes, to be treated like beer and wine sales.
Currently, ready-to-drink cocktails can only be purchased in ABC stores. The provision would have limited the canned cocktail to a maximum 9.9% alcohol by volume in order to be sold in grocery stores and other retailers.
Some lawmakers and industry members were worried the change could inch the state closer to completely privatizing the liquor industry. Those in support of the provision said the products are in high demand and would make purchasing or selling canned cocktails more convenient for both customers and hospitality businesses respectively.
The House bills also included some similar provisions, including one governing where mixed beverage permit holders are allowed to purchase from.
Under current state law, mixed beverage permit holders are only permitted to purchase from specific ABC stores that were assigned by the local ABC board.
HB 198, which passed the Senate with a change from the original House version, would have permitted local boards to allow delivery service to mixed beverage permittees “operating in the same county … or any adjacent county” of the ABC board.
HB 921 would have allowed for a waiver process in case the local ABC board cannot fulfill an order within the time period requested or because the product isn’t in stock. The waiver would have allowed mixed beverage permit holders to then purchase the specific product — the unfulfilled order — from any ABC store in the state.
With any new legislation effectively dead this year, North Carolinians who partake in the liquor industry may have to wait until 2027 for any changes to state laws brought on by the legislature.
N&O reporter Dan Kane contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 30, 2026 at 3:17 PM with the headline “NC liquor law overhaul stalls out after ABC warehouse dispute derails deal.”
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