New Mexico Restaurant Association CEO: Legislative efforts to save industry is ‘too little too late’

(The Center Square) – House Bill 255, the Alcohol Deliveries bill, aims to energize the hospitality industry after a year of crushing restrictions because of COVID-19, and recently passed the House 41-27.

The bill would allow for alcohol deliveries accompanied by food and expand liquor licenses to include spirits.

Liquor licensing costs would decrease significantly to $10,000 from close to $300,000, Carol Wight, CEO of the New Mexico Restaurant Association (NMRA) told The Center Square.

This is good for some and bad for others, Wight said.

“We have members on both sides so we can’t take a position,” Wight said.

For those looking to get into the industry, this bill would make it a lot more feasible.

For those who already purchased their license for $300,000 or more, they would see the value of their operation drastically decreased, Wight said.

“In some cases, restaurants don’t have a lot of savings, and licenses are the only thing of value they have right now because of course we’ve been shut down in New Mexico to a degree that no other state has been shut down, and therefore, these restaurants have been hurt more than any other state,” Wight said.

The bill would allow for a $200,000 tax deduction for those already holding a license, but this is deceptive, Wight said.

“It looks good, $200,000, but it’s not that,” Wight said.

Wight points out this deduction is taken against the income tax, which when it all shakes out, ends up being about $6,000 in savings.

“Unless you’re a CPA, you probably don’t know that,” Wight said.

The delivery portion of the bill is also not shaping up to be particularly helpful, according to Wight. The bill allows for grocery stores to deliver alcohol as well.

“When we were asking for this back in May last year, that wasn’t our intent that everybody should deliver alcohol,” Wight said. “It was a way to supplement restaurant income at a time when we were shut down to delivery and takeout only, it wasn’t so grocery stores could make more money delivering alcohol.”

What New Mexico’s restaurant industry really needed was a delivery bill just for them last May, and this current bill is too little way too late, Wight said.

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