The New To-Go

Alcohol-delivery measure awaits action from the governor

Before this year’s legislative session began, Justin Greene only knew the Roundhouse from delivering food there through his business.

The owner of Dashing Delivery, which shuttles meals from 18 locally owned Santa Fe restaurants, has been bringing food to lawmakers for a dozen years now. But this time, Greene decided to do something different—write a bill and attempt to push it through the arduous lawmaking process himself.

The measure, which would allow businesses to deliver beer and wine to homes and hotels along with meals, passed on a wide bipartisan vote during a session fueled by ideological bickering. If Gov. Susana Martinez signs it into law, there’s little doubt Greene’s business would benefit.

"In theory, it could increase sales 30 percent," he says, referring to the maximum ratio of gross sales of alcohol to total sales that the bill allows.

But Greene stresses that his interest in economic development, a desire to help the local restaurant industry and an opportunity to "get on the ground" and change state law really fueled the time he spent in the state Capitol lobbying for his bill.

Either way, Greene's story shows that in an age of unlimited campaign spending, dark money and special interest access, the idea of a citizen Legislature isn't a complete misnomer.

Getting a bill passed without money, of course, was not easy. Unlike other special interest groups prowling around the Roundhouse during the session, Greene wasn't paid a dime for his efforts.

"I was literally a one-man show at the Legislature," he says. "It was 'Mr. Greene Goes to Santa Fe.'"

Greene estimates that he spent 200 hours talking to lawmakers in person and attending committee and floor debates. The measure also comes two years in the making, starting out as a memorial during the 2014 budget-only legislative session.

State Rep. Donna Irwin, D-Doña Ana, was the legislator who carried the memorial for Greene.

"I thought it was a good thing, that it can be brought to their house and they don't get a DWI," Irwin says. "That's, to me, the best."

Because memorials don't have to be enforced even after they pass the Legislature, Greene spent the past year using his volunteer position on the state Liquor Control Task Force, encouraging the state Alcohol and Gaming Division to actually study the feasibility of the issue, as lawmakers had requested.

"Anybody that wants to make a bill happen has to do their homework," Greene says. "It doesn't get done for you."

This year, state Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Bernalillo, carried the actual legislation for Greene. Ortiz y Pino got interested partly because he once delivered alcohol himself, before the work became illegal as a part of several alcohol reforms in the state in 1980.

Still, the bill faces one more hurdle with the governor's veto or signature. Greene confirms that he's received a call from a policy staffer at the governor's office to go over the nuts and bolts of the law. There was no word about whether she would sign it.

Greene spent much of his 200 hours in the Roundhouse cornering legislators to make his pitch for the bill. Often, he'd watch certain lawmakers operate in committee meetings.

To state Rep. Jim Smith, R-Bernalillo, for example, Greene talked about how the bill would benefit mom-and-pop restaurants in smaller markets like the ones Smith represents. Smith ended up carrying the House version of the bill.

Sometimes, Greene only had as little time as a ride in an elevator to get a lawmaker's attention and plant a seed. It didn't help that Greene was tackling a controversial subject in a state known for its high alcoholism and drunk-driving problems.

"The liquor industry is a pretty tight-knit industry," he says. "You have to know all the players from every side—safety, health, enforcement, wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers."

The measure would limit the alcohol delivery to two six-packs of beer and two bottles of wine at a time. It also only allows for delivery to homes and hotels. Businesses were left out because they face liability in cases when employees drive home drunk after work. If the bill becomes law, municipalities still have to opt into beer and wine delivery before it can start.

Local communities that don't want alcohol delivered in their neighborhoods also have the option to create "no delivery" addresses, which Green explains is similar to "no call" lists.

Currently Greene's business delivers within a four-mile radius of downtown Santa Fe. He says he's been in touch with Mayor Javier Gonzales and some of the City Council about the bill for the past year. The feedback, he says, has been positive.

"This was also kind of in the realm of the impossible," Greene says. "They said, 'Yeah, tell me when it passes.'"

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