Who's Buying A Possible Happy Hour Return In MA?

MASSACHUSETTS — The latest effort to bring back Happy Hour at bars and restaurants across Massachusetts has some spirited momentum after the state senate included rescinding the ban on discount drinks that has been in place for four decades in an economic development bill passed on Thursday.

Under the amendment from State Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Cape and Islands), cities and towns would have the option to allow bars and restaurants under their jurisdiction to offer daily discounts on alcohol prior to 10 p.m. as long as they were advertised within the establishment and online, and as long as the price of the drinks remains consistent during the discount session.

Massachusetts banned Happy Hour discounts in 1984 following a push from groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving as a way to curb injuries and deaths related to those driving under the influence of alcohol. Other states that implemented similar bans have since repealed them but efforts to do so in the Bay State have repeatedly reached a dead end on Beacon Hill.

Former Gov. Charlie Baker opposed those efforts — including one in 2019 tied to the opening of casinos in Massachusetts that argued the casinos, which offer free drinks to active gamblers, would have an unfair advantage over nearby businesses that did not have the same opportunity to entice customers. The casinos were granted a special exemption to the law but the efforts to expand the exemption failed.

Under state law, any discounts for alcohol must be in place for at least a full calendar week at a time.

The last bid to eliminate the Happy Hour ban was referred to committee — effectively killing it — in 2022.

Yet, while Cyr referenced the "fun" factor and a presumed business boost for bars and restaurants with the reintroduction of two-for-one specials and other discounts, what is less clear is whether bar and restaurant owners would even welcome it at a time when rising inventory and labor costs are prompting many of them to seek to increase prices more than search for a way to give their customers a price break.

"Happy hour is always a subject that generates a lot of discussion, and consumers want half-priced items, just as they would half-price gas," Massachusetts Restaurant Association Director of Government Affairs Jessica Muradian told Patch on Friday. "Some restaurant owners are in favor, and even more are opposed.

"This is generally not something that restaurants are going around asking for. Restaurants are asking for relief on the high cost of operating the business, including credit card processing and health insurance premiums, which continue to skyrocket."

The repeal still faces a long road — especially without the apparent overwhelming backing of the industry it is designed to support.

It must pass the House of Representatives and then find a friendlier audience for a final signature from Gov. Maura Healey than similar proposals did from her predecessor.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)