The New Liquor bill is easy to swallow

SC passing new liquor bill that’s easy to swallow

Gov. Henry McMaster was joined by dozens of members of the South Carolina General Assembly on May 28 to celebrate the signing of a bill he said will support the state's restaurants and businesses. 

House Bill 3430 covers tort reform and liquor liability. Lawmakers made it a priority to pass the bill after pleas from small businesses to fix rising liquor liability costs, which they said have pushed many locally owned restaurants out of business. 

Matt Willis, the Greenville Chamber of Commerce’s vice president of government affairs, said there is still work to be done in tort reform, but this legislation is a positive step in the right direction for Greenville’s hospitality industry. 

“We’re ecstatic with what has passed,” Willis said. “I think it is a fantastic first step.” 

The new law takes effect on Jan. 1.

The bill still requires businesses to hold at least $1 million in insurance coverage, but it creates new opportunities for restaurants to lower those rates.  

Part of the bill includes the creation of a liquor liability risk management program, which requires businesses that sell alcohol to implement an alcohol serving course for their staff. 

It also helps restaurants qualify for lower insurance rates if they take steps such as stopping alcohol sales after midnight or using electric ID scanners. 

Willis said that he thinks the practices will be beneficial for businesses. He said the mandated training will also help servers identify people who are becoming too intoxicated. 

“I think it’s a positive step for anyone in the hospitality industry,” Willis said. 

Changes in liability for drunk driving cases 

The bill also changes the extent to which a business owner could be found liable for damages in a drunk driving case. 

Under the previous state law, restaurants and bars could be held 100% liable for legal damages in a DUI case. The new legislation lowers that threshold to up to 50% liability. 

McMaster said that while there were disagreements over the bill at first, lawmakers were confident it would pass this session. 

“Business requires certainty, and it also requires fairness and justice,” McMaster said before signing the bill into law. “It requires that one person is not blame for what somebody else did, but it requires [that] people who have caused pain, suffering, damage, or loss must be held accountable.” 

State Sen. Michael Johnson (R-York) used the bill signing to call attention to the need for a bigger legislative fight against driving under the influence. 

Johnson said that South Carolina leads the nation in terms of drunk driving-related deaths and that the legislature needs to take steps to address this issue next session.

“We have a duty though to take drunk drivers off the road,” Johnson said. “The legislature must act to strengthen our DUI laws. This alone will not fix our problem.”