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Margaritas and other mixed, alcoholic drinks that were allowed to go from restaurants and bars at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Iowa can be taken into the trunk of a vehicle.
Currently, those beverages are not considered open containers of alcohol and may be transported in vehicles out of the reach of drivers. Two bills in the Iowa House and Senate would hold drivers accountable for open containers if police find even a bottled cocktail within reach.
The current law was intended to boost revenue for businesses hit hard by the pandemic, as in-person dining largely shut down and to-go orders and deliveries became the norm. It is Iowa’s first state legislature since several state governors provisionally approved it.
The problem is that the federal government is threatening to withhold nearly $14 million in annual road and bridge funding because of this provision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration imposes a “transfer penalty” for states without compliant open container laws, and 2.5 percent of Iowa’s funds will be used for anti-drunk driving initiatives.
“We only support it in terms of highway funding, and it’s not in the front seat or the back seat of the car where it’s within reach,” said Susan Fenton, legislative liaison for the Iowa Department of Transportation. Thursday.
Fenton’s comments were part of a Senate State Government subcommittee hearing on Senate Study Bill 1032, which the subcommittee advanced. The House Committee canceled Thursday’s hearing on the same House Study Act 29.
“As such, I’m glad to hear that there’s more discussion here,” said Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, special agent for the Iowa division. A criminal investigation led by a Senate hearing.
Dawson has been vocal about why state requirements for sealing shipping containers aren’t enough for federal regulators, but says he has no problem moving the drinks into trunks for transport.
In the year The first version of the state’s cocktail bill in 2020 resulted in stricter sealing methods — a wrapper or top cover — and a ban on the use of disposable cups made of paper, Styrofoam or plastic. Lawmakers passed a 2021 ban on containers with lids with straw holes or for drinking directly from the container, which federal officials described as unacceptable in a memo from the Division of Alcoholic Beverages.
The currently proposed rule would allow restaurants and bars to use more clearance on to-go containers without meeting the open container requirements.
To-go cocktails must travel in the trunk under new bills
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