A new amendment to the Pennsylvania Liquor Code will make it easier for bars, restaurants, and taverns to serve alcohol at off-premises catering events for “end-of-life” ceremonies.
An antiquated provision of Pennsylvania law required Pennsylvania liquor license holders who hold off-premises catering permits to notify the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board 14 days in advance of any off-site event at which they would serve alcohol, and to notify local police and the Pennsylvania State Police’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement seven days before the event.
While that may make sense for most events planned weeks and months in advance, it failed to account for events that are planned at short notice, such as a funeral.
Gov. Josh Shapiro signed House Bill 467, now Act 56, in December, giving liquor license holders with an off-premises catering permit a shorter window of 24 hours of advanced notice to the PLCB, BLCE, and local police for an “end-of-life” event. The law defines end-of-life events as “a gathering of people where guests honor a person who died within the previous seven days.” Establishments can register those types of events on the PLCB’s online regulatory system, PLCB+, under “Other License Changes/Amendments,” and the amendment called “End-of-Life Memorial Event.”
If an end-of-life event is more than seven days away, the PLCB said in recent guidance that those events should be registered under the previous regulations.
The Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association championed the amendment for a year after it learned about the issue.
“We’re happy our Association could address this outdated liquor code with some common sense through legislative channels, helping small business taverns, bars, and licensed restaurants, as well as Pennsylvania families wishing to remember the life of a loved one,” the association said in a late-December statement.
The bill also included provisions on liquor license auctions, a new “sporting event permit,” and more.
If you have any questions about the new provisions in Act 56 or how to submit registration for an end-of-life event, please contact me or any member of the Saxton & Stump Liquor Licensing and Alcohol Group.
