Girish Patel, Executive Director, Indian American Package Store Association

By Girish Patel, Executive Director, Indian American Package Store Association

They’re baaack. Not long after the dust settled following the 2024 “short” legislative session of the General Assembly, Connecticut’s beverage industry once again faces legislative challenges in 2025. Now the largest industry voice, the Indian American Package Store Association (IAPSA) is actively engaged in the legislative process and with administrative agencies that have oversight for the products we sell and the marketplace in which we operate.

This year is shaping up to be a long session full of familiar challenges, as state legislators have proposed bills with the potential to disrupt the marketplace and erode customer choice. Debate over legislation ranging from allowing farm wine and craft beer sales in supermarkets to outright prohibitions against nip bottle sales, the long session, spanning January through June 4, promises to be a challenging one.

From the retirement of longtime General Law Committee Chairman Mike D’Agostino to the promotion of Environment Committee Chairman Joe Gresko to Deputy Speaker, leadership of key committees of cognizance is in transition as we face familiar and unfamiliar challenges. Both committees will be led by well-respected leaders of the four caucuses. The General Law Committee will be led by returning leaders Senate Chairman James Maroney and Ranking Members Sen. Paul Cicarella and Rep. David Rutigliano.

Former Transportation Committee Chairman Roland Lemar will take the helm as House Chair. The Environment Committee will be led by returning leaders Senate Chairman Rick Lopes and Ranking Members Sen. Stephen Harding and Rep. Patrick Callahan. Returning committee member State Rep. John-Michael Parker will take the helm as House Chair.

In recent legislative sessions, supermarkets have stood behind our fellow small business owners, Connecticut’s farm wineries, to be the face of their coordinated campaign for wine sales. On a parallel path, big-box stores pushed for the ability to sell beer. Members of the Indian American Package Store Association launched a successful grassroots effort to defeat both initiatives, but they remain ever vigilant of their reemergence.

It’s hard to ignore what wine sales in supermarkets have done to markets around the country, all while eroding consumer choice. Our Colorado contemporaries are struggling and dozens have closed in a very brief period after wine sales went to corporate food retailers. Our members continue to share industry information with legislators to illustrate the devastating effect such a move would have on Connecticut’s small businesses and, most importantly, on our customers.

As those in our industry are aware, cider is often associated with beer because it’s similarly packaged, which is why it’s logical for supermarkets to argue for access to this product. Beer is fermented from starch-based malted cereals, while cider, like wine, is fermented from the pressed juice of fruit. Why does the distinction matter? Packaging for adult beverages has evolved over the years and it’s not inconceivable that future wine consumers will prefer a can over glass. If supermarkets gain access to cider, how long until they lobby for wine sales? While it may seem like a large leap, one small step in this direction brings supermarkets and big-box stores closer to achieving their common goal of consuming our industry.

The 2025 legislative session has already yielded a number of proposals looking to address the issue of nip bottle litter. Our beverage industry proposed and helped pass legislation to combat the litter problem through the imposition of the five-cent environmental fee on every nip sold. That law has netted municipalities meaningful sources of additional revenue. Of the $4.7 million raised and allocated, several municipalities have deployed these dollars wisely and others continue to debate how to allocate them. Our industry should help support the program with defined ways to deploy such funds.

Members of the Indian American Package Store Association—from Winchester to Putnam, from Greenwich to North Stonington, and municipalities in between—are committed to fighting to defend our customers and industry’s interests through testimony and legislative outreach.

Learn more about IAPSA by visiting iapsact.org.