NC governor says ABC’s proposed price floor for liquor is ‘off the table for now’

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North Carolina is unlikely to see a price shift in distilled spirits anytime soon even though the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission proposed a mandated minimum price system for the state.

Gov. Josh Stein told The News & Observer on Thursday that a proposal to set a minimum price for spirits like vodka and tequila is “off the table for now.”

“People are struggling with costs — costs of everything — cost of their electricity at home, cost of their rent, cost of gas to get from A to B, cost of healthcare, cost of child care,” he said.

The ABC Commission met earlier this month to discuss the results of a study looking into the implementation, legality and public health and safety effects of the proposal, which would impact 60 regularly listed items out of the ABC’s 7,333 items. At least 98% of products would remain unaffected, according to the study.

The commissioners voted to table the conversation to further research how the policy would affect bars and restaurants. Commission Chairman Hank Bauer previously told The N&O that the research should take about a month or two to complete.

Bauer said the study was commissioned to address public health and safety concerns and noted that he has seen people lined up at ABC stores “as soon as the store opens” and “go directly to the inexpensive vodkas that are $4.65.”

“I guarantee, if you came back the next day, it’s the same people standing in line,” he told The N&O.

Stein, a Democrat, said Thursday that “there’s just so many people out there struggling” with other costs.

“Not everybody drinks liquor, and probably most people shouldn’t drink as much as some of them may do,” he said. “But we shouldn’t be raising costs on people, on what they consume.”

North Carolina residents, bar owners and advocacy organizations left public comments — most of which were in opposition to the proposal — that argued the plan would increase costs and hurt small businesses.

State House Speaker Destin Hall, a Caldwell County Republican, said in a statement to The N&O on Tuesday that the “commission’s price hike scheme is a bad idea that’s half-baked and poorly researched, and it demonstrates how dismissively the Stein administration’s ABC Commission treats small businesses like restaurants in this state.”

The N&O was not able to reach a spokesperson for Senate leader Phil Berger by phone or email this week for comment about the proposal.

Jeff Strickland, a spokesperson for the ABC Commission, said “public input is, and has been, critically important” to the study process.

“Regarding a potential timeline, we expect it will take longer than one or two months to collect and analyze all the North Carolina-specific data requested,” he said. “We don’t have a preset timeline and will continue working with researchers to identify reliable data and answers for the questions raised by the public, industry, and the Commissioners.”

The study shows that the price increases would affect tequila the most; it accounts for 55.9% of the gain. The price floor for a 750 milliliter bottle, or a fifth, would increase to $10.95, and the floor for a 1 liter bottle would increase to $13.45.

For example, a 750 milliliter bottle of Dorado Gold Tequila currently sells in ABC stores for $7.45. The policy would increase the bottle’s price to $10.95.

The study says a total of 97 items — 60 regularly listed products and 37 special orders — would be affected by the price floor. Those items amount to about 1.3% of North Carolina’s product filings, according to the study.

Ben Popkin, assistant agency general counsel, presented the findings on Aug. 12. He said the price increase would raise retail sales revenue on those items by about $2 million per year, which, by state law, would provide about $613,000 in funding for local ABC boards. The remaining $1.4 million would be distributed to local law enforcement, alcohol and substance abuse education, and the state’s general fund.

Popkin said the study does not have “significant data on assessing the financial condition of restaurants, bars and related businesses in our state.” The study says that the impact is “expected to be limited, on the evidence available.”

The study shows that among North Carolina’s top-selling brands, 14.4% of cases were sold to mixed-beverage permittees like bars and restaurants. The remaining 85.6% of cases were sold to retailers.

This story was originally published August 20, 2026 at 1:50 PM with the headline “NC governor says ABC’s proposed price floor for liquor is ‘off the table for now’.”