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S 3836 NY
Passed Legislature

Authorizes the sale of non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages by licensees

NY · session 2025-2026 · Senate · bill

A state bill is a proposed law in a state legislature — separate from the U.S. Congress. Learn more →

Introduced Jan 30, 2025

Latest action (May 14, 2026) REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Summary

This bill authorizes alcohol licensees and wholesalers in New York to sell non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages. The bill defines a non-alcoholic version of an alcoholic beverage as a beverage with 0.5 percent or less alcohol by volume that is marketed as a substitute for an alcoholic beverage. The bill expands the list of ancillary products that licensed retailers may sell to include these non-alcoholic beverage alternatives. Wine and liquor wholesalers are also authorized to acquire, transport, and sell non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Official abstract

Authorizes the sale of non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages by licensees and wholesalers; defines non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages.

Sponsor (1)

2 coauthors / cosponsors

Action history (16)

  1. Jan 30, 2025 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS · upper
  2. May 28, 2025 1ST REPORT CAL.1438 · upper
  3. May 29, 2025 2ND REPORT CAL. · upper
  4. Jun 4, 2025 ADVANCED TO THIRD READING · upper
  5. Jun 11, 2025 PASSED SENATE · upper
  6. Jun 11, 2025 DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY · upper
  7. Jun 11, 2025 REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT · lower
  8. Jan 7, 2026 DIED IN ASSEMBLY · lower
  9. Jan 7, 2026 RETURNED TO SENATE · lower
  10. Jan 7, 2026 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS · upper
  11. Mar 24, 2026 1ST REPORT CAL.607 · upper
  12. Mar 25, 2026 2ND REPORT CAL. · upper
  13. Mar 26, 2026 ADVANCED TO THIRD READING · upper
  14. May 14, 2026 PASSED SENATE · upper
  15. May 14, 2026 DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY · upper
  16. May 14, 2026 REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT · lower

Text versions (2)

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

  • S3836 · HTML
  • S3836 · PDF

Full text

Full text imported from assembly.state.ny.us

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New York State Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie

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Bill No.: Summary Actions Committee&nbspVotes Floor&nbspVotes Memo Text LFIN Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript S03836 Summary: BILL NO S03836 &nbsp SAME AS SAME AS A07457

&nbsp SPONSOR HINCHEY &nbsp COSPNSR COONEY, SCARCELLA-SPANTON &nbsp MLTSPNSR &nbsp Amd §§3, 63 & 104, ABC L &nbsp Authorizes the sale of non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages by licensees and wholesalers; defines non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages.

Go to top S03836 Text:

STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________

3836

2025-2026 Regular Sessions

IN SENATE

January 30, 2025 ___________

Introduced by Sens. HINCHEY, SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investi- gations and Government Operations

AN ACT to amend the alcoholic beverage control law, in relation to the sale of non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows:

1 Section 1. Section 3 of the alcoholic beverage control law is amended 2 by adding a new subdivision 20-h to read as follows: 3 20-h. "Non-alcoholic version of an alcoholic beverage" means a non-al- 4 coholic beverage that contains five-tenths percent or less alcohol by 5 volume and that is marketed to appeal to persons more than twenty-one 6 years of age as a substitute for an alcoholic beverage. 7 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 63 of the alcoholic beverage control 8 law, as amended by chapter 24 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 4. No licensee under this section shall be engaged in any other busi- 11 ness on the licensed premises. The sale of lottery tickets, when duly 12 authorized and lawfully conducted, the sale of reusable bags as defined 13 in section 27-2801 of the environmental conservation law, the sale of 14 corkscrews or the sale of ice or the sale of publications, including 15 prerecorded video and/or audio cassette tapes, or educational seminars, 16 designed to help educate consumers in their knowledge and appreciation 17 of alcoholic beverages, as defined in section three of this chapter and 18 allowed pursuant to their license, or the sale of non-carbonated, non- 19 flavored mineral waters, spring waters [ and ] , drinking waters , or the 20 sale of non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages, or the sale of 21 glasses designed for the consumption of wine or liquor, racks designed 22 for the storage of wine, and devices designed to minimize oxidation in 23 bottles of wine which have been uncorked, or the sale of gift bags, gift 24 boxes, associated gift or promotional items, or wrapping, for alcoholic

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05349-01-5

S. 3836 2

1 beverages purchased at the licensed premises shall not constitute engag- 2 ing in another business within the meaning of this subdivision. Any fee 3 obtained from the sale of an educational seminar shall not be considered 4 as a fee for any tasting that may be offered during an educational semi- 5 nar, provided that such tastings are available to persons who have not 6 paid to attend the seminar and all tastings are conducted in accordance 7 with section sixty-three-a of this article. For the purposes of this 8 section, gift or promotional items shall only include those items that 9 are complimentary and directly associated with the sale of wine or 10 liquor they are promoting and shall mean: (i) items that are de minimis 11 in value, but in no instance shall merchandise be valued at more than 12 fifteen dollars in total; (ii) items that are imprinted with the wine or 13 liquor brand logo on the gift or promotional item; and (iii) items that 14 are included as part of a manufactured pre-sealed package with the wine 15 or liquor that is being gifted or promoted. Further, for the purposes of 16 this section, promotional items shall not include any food, non-alcohol- 17 ic beverage, or other drink or food mix, nor shall these items be 18 offered for sale to the general public as individual items , except for 19 those beverages specifically authorized to be sold pursuant to this 20 subdivision . 21 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 104 of the alcoholic 22 beverage control law, as amended by chapter 24 of the laws of 2024, is 23 amended to read as follows: 24 (a) No wholesaler shall be engaged in any other business on the prem- 25 ises to be licensed; except that nothing contained in this chapter 26 shall: (1) prohibit a beer wholesaler from (i) acquiring, storing or 27 selling non-alcoholic snack foods, as defined in paragraph (b) of this 28 subdivision, (ii) manufacturing, bottling, storing, or selling non-alco- 29 holic carbonated beverages, (iii) manufacturing, storing or selling 30 non-alcoholic non-carbonated soft drinks, mineral waters, spring waters, 31 drinking water, non-taxable malt or cereal beverages, juice drinks, 32 fruit or vegetable juices, ice, liquid beverage mixes and dry or frozen 33 beverage mixes, (iv) acquiring, storing or selling wine products, (v) 34 the sale of promotional items on such premises, or (vi) the sale of 35 tobacco products at retail by wholesalers who are licensed to sell beer 36 and other products at retail; (2) prohibit a wholesaler authorized to 37 sell wine from (i) manufacturing, acquiring or selling wine merchandise, 38 as defined in paragraph (d) of this subdivision or (ii) acquiring, 39 transporting, or selling non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages ; 40 (3) prohibit a licensed winery or licensed farm winery from engaging in 41 the business of a wine wholesaler for New York state labeled wines 42 produced by any licensed winery or licensed farm winery or prohibit such 43 wine wholesaler from exercising any of its rights pursuant to sections 44 seventy-six and seventy-six-a of this chapter provided that the opera- 45 tion of such beer and wine wholesalers business shall be subject to such 46 rules and regulations as the liquor authority may prescribe; (4) prohib- 47 it a beer wholesaler who is authorized to sell beer at retail from sell- 48 ing at retail: (i) candy, chewing gum and cough drops; (ii) non-refri- 49 gerated salsa; (iii) cigarette lighters, lighter fluid, matches and 50 ashtrays; (iv) barbecue and picnic-related products and supplies, which 51 shall include, but not be limited to, charcoal, grills, propane gas, 52 plastic and paper cups, paper or plastic tablecloths and coolers; (v) 53 beer making and brewing supplies and publications, which shall include, 54 but not be limited to, books, magazines, equipment and ingredients; (vi) 55 steins, mugs and other glassware appropriate for the consumption of 56 beer, malt beverages and wine products; (vii) items typically used to

S. 3836 3

1 serve beer and malt beverages including, but not limited to, taps, 2 kegerators, koozies and beer socks; (viii) lemons, limes and oranges, 3 provided that no more than two dozen of each shall be displayed at any 4 one time; (ix) rock salt, ice and snow melting compounds, snow shovels; 5 windshield washer solvent; firewood; beach umbrellas; sunglasses and sun 6 block; and (x) prepaid telephone cards; (5) prohibit the installation 7 and operation of a single automated teller machine in the premises of a 8 beer wholesaler who is authorized to sell beer at retail; or (6) prohib- 9 it a liquor or a wine wholesaler from (i) transporting or selling gifts 10 or promotional items associated with wine or liquor products as provided 11 for in subdivision four of section sixty-three of this chapter or (ii) 12 acquiring, transporting, or selling non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic 13 beverages . For the purposes of this subdivision, "automated teller 14 machine" means a device which is linked to the accounts and records of a 15 banking institution and which enables consumers to carry out banking 16 transactions, including but not limited to, account transfers, deposits, 17 cash withdrawals, balance inquiries and loan payments. 18 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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