SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico’s governor has signed a sweeping liquor reform law that legalizes home delivery, among other changes.
The bipartisan bill also makes it for businesses to get a liquor license, lowering the value of existing licenses that are sold for as much as $300,000, but increasing the number of locations that can sell. To partially offset the loss in value, it offers tax breaks to existing license holders.
It’s the first major overhaul of New Mexico’s alcohol laws in recent memory.
“Ultimately I side with those who argued that reform, after so many decades, is more than warranted and that these reforms, in particular, will move us forward as a state - not only by providing an important new revenue stream for the restaurant and hospitality industry but by making this industry more accessible to more New Mexicans while including important safeguards,” said Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who signed the bill Wednesday, applauding what she described as productive debate and compromise.
The bill also bans the sale of wine and spirits at gas stations in McKinley County. The prohibition was included at the urging of a centrist Democrat representing that area of northwestern New Mexico, citing high levels of alcoholism.
The home deliveries will require ID checks.
The Department of Health will study the effect of the new policy on public health.
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