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Committee advances bill allowing for‑profit theaters a nontransferable liquor license amid industry split
Summary
The Assembly committee released A4666 after debate. Supporters including Cinema United said an exclusive, nontransferable license would boost struggling theaters and generate revenue; opponents from the Licensed Beverage Association warned creating a new license category would not resolve 1,300 inactive licenses and would undercut existing license holders.
A legislative oversight committee voted to release Assembly bill A4666, which would create a new, facility‑specific license permitting for‑profit movie theaters to sell alcoholic beverages during scheduled film exhibitions.
Proponents said the change would help theater operators that have struggled since the pandemic. Matt Greller, representing Cinema United, told the committee that New Jersey now has roughly 70 movie theaters and that 23 closed since the pandemic. He said the amended bill would allow theaters to purchase a motion picture exhibition license that ‘‘stays at the theater’’ and ‘‘cannot be transferred, assigned, sold, pledged, or otherwise used in connection with any other premises or business operation,’’ and estimated the sale of such licenses could generate about $8,000,000 in one‑time revenue and roughly $1,100,000 in recurring annual sales tax.
Opponents urged a different approach. Jeff Warsh, a partner at MBI speaking for the New Jersey Licensed Beverage Association, said the bill ‘‘creates a totally new license’’ rather than requiring theaters to acquire existing plenary retail consumption licenses and warned that would leave the state’s roughly 1,300 inactive licenses untouched. Warsh noted that the market price of many existing licenses ranges ‘‘right around $100,000 to over $2,000,000,’’ and argued that expanding access by using inactive licenses would better address the industry’s overall license inactivity.
Committee amendments read into the record set the initial issuance fee for the new license at $2,210,000 and clarified that alcoholic beverages may be sold only during scheduled motion picture exhibitions at the licensed premises and that the license would remain at the qualifying motion picture facility and not be transferable. After discussion the committee voted to release the bill as amended.
The committee recorded members’ positions during the roll call on the motion to amend and release; the bill was released as amended. The committee also noted that public slips filed on the bill would be placed into the record.
