Senate Bill 5-24 would allow restaurants to package sealed alcoholic beverages for takeout and permit on-premise establishments to provide delivery via a restaurant delivery license. Senator Tim McHugh, the bill sponsor, said the measure is intended to give consumers the option to take a sealed drink home with a meal and to provide a safety benefit by removing the incentive to drink at the bar and then drive.

Industry groups and business advocates generally supported the bill in concept. Mike Summers, president of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, told the committee many states now permit cocktails to go and said the measure could provide additional revenue for struggling restaurants. "We are supporting this in concept," Summers said.

Public-health organizations and the Liquor Commission cautioned that third-party delivery and inadequate sealing have caused problems elsewhere. Mark Armaganian, chief of liquor enforcement and licensing, said the commission initially opposed cocktails-to-go absent an integrity-seal requirement and emphasized the need for a robust enforcement and labeling regime. "We had shied away from Uber Eats and Grubhub because those companies weren't doing due diligence in age requirements," Armaganian said.

Lieutenant Matthew Culver of the Liquor Commission described technical changes in the preferred language: creating a separate restaurant delivery license in a distinct statute (referenced in committee material as RSA 01/7821), mandating sealed containers, and requiring labeling that lists the brand, alcohol by volume and amount, and a warning label on the sealed product to aid inspectors.

Witnesses from public-policy and business groups highlighted implementation questions including whether delivery must be performed by W-2 employees, where signage and seals would be required, and whether the licensing fee structure should be adjusted. Committee members asked explicitly about age verification at delivery and whether third-party platforms could be held accountable; Liquor Commission witnesses said accountability is clearer when restaurants use employees rather than independent third-party drivers.

The Committee closed the hearing on SB524 without a vote; proponents and enforcement officials signaled continued negotiation on language addressing sealing, labeling and enforcement.