BOSTON – The Senate on Thursday approved the latest push to bring back “Happy Hour” to Massachusetts.
The State House News Service reports that in an overnight vote, senators approved an amendment by Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Truro) that would give cities and towns the green light to allow discounted drinks after work in restaurants and bars. The amendment was one of several attached to the Senate’s $4.4 billion economic development bill, which also includes $500 million in tax credits and $500 million in permanent tax breaks.
Happy Hour has been banned in the state since 1984 in response to car accidents involving drivers who over-served during drink promotions. Cyr’s amendment would give cities and towns the power to set happy hour rules, and drink discounts would not be allowed after 10 p.m.
“This is giving municipalities a tool that they would like to have Happy Hour to be able to do it through a local option,” Cyr said.
The proposal would have to clear a few hurdles before any changes are made to the state’s happy hour ban. It would have to survive a conference committee, where Senate and House negotiators will iron out differences between their respective economic development bills. Then, it would have to be signed by Gov. Charlie Baker, who has opposed reviving Happy Hour in the past.
“I remember what was happening on the roads in Massachusetts when we had Happy Hours, and it was that there were horrible, horrible, horrible, terrible experiences on a very regular basis that came with Happy Hours back in the day,” Baker said. journalists last summer. “I know it’s probably a stick in the mud for me to say something like that, but I’d start out as a skeptic about going back to the way we did Happy Hours.”
Baker’s office tells WBZ he will carefully review any legislation that reaches his desk. Supporters of lifting the ban say safety has come a long way since 1984.
“Particularly with the emergence of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, this really helps get people home safely,” Cyr said.
A 2021 MassINC poll showed that 70% of residents want to see Happy Hour return, but recent proposals to make it happen haven’t gone very far. An effort to repeal the ban failed to get enough signatures to make the 2022 ballot, and a legislative committee killed bills to try to bring back Happy Hour earlier this year.
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