AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Texans will be able to continue to buy alcohol with their to-go food orders from restaurants across the state, thanks to a new law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday.
Abbott put his signature on House Bill 1024, which makes permanent a pandemic-era waiver first put into place in March 2020.
"Today is a great day for Texas restaurants, as well as for their customers," Abbott said in a video posted to Twitter as he signed the bill.
The law requires that all alcoholic beverages are either sealed in their original, manufacturer-sealed container, or in a tamper-proof container that is labeled with the business’ name and the words “alcoholic beverage.”
Making the waiver permanent gives the state's restaurants another tool to recover from the pandemic, according to Emily Williams Knight, president and CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association. "Gov. Abbott’s emergency waiver allowing alcohol to-go during the pandemic saved thousands of restaurant jobs, creating a new revenue stream and unleashing the innovation that restaurants will need to rebuild from the pandemic. We still have a long road to recovery ahead, but with tools like alcohol to-go, the restaurant industry’s future is brighter than ever in Texas.”
According to a May 2020 survey conducted by TRA, 81% of Texans were in favor of making alcohol-to-go permanent, with 42% saying they strongly favor it.
The bill was passed unanimously in the Senate and only had one vote against in the House, meaning the new law goes into effect immediately upon Abbott's signature.