Last call for Massachusetts' to-go cocktail fans – as of midnight, your days of ordering spike sippers with your takeout are officially on pause. Amidst deliberations in the Massachusetts legislature, the contentious to-go cocktail measure has shaken up more than just spirits. While Governor Maura Healey backs the proposal to cement the policy as a fixture beyond the pandemic, mom-and-pop shops are clashing with liquor stores over its fate, reports NBC10 Boston.

The to-go cocktail program, initially a lifeline thrown to struggling restaurants during the pandemic, failed to receive its annual extension on April 1, much to the dismay of bar and restaurant owners who were enjoying the expanded income stream The sunset on suds to-go ties into a stalled supplemental budget which is also juggling migrant shelter funding, with critics arguing that such policies shouldn't mix.

Rumbling from the liquor store corner is Rob Mellion of the Massachusetts Package Stores Association, who believes reinstating permanent to-go cocktails is tantamount to creating an industry monopoly. Mellion told NBC10 Boston, "The emergency is over and now it's time to go back to what we were. We were always afraid in the industry that this was always going to be abused, that this was going to be something that someone would try to make permanent and unfortunately, our concerns have proven to be true."

Meanwhile, Healey and the state's Restaurant Association are cheering on the to-go concept, highlighting its popularity and legality in other jurisdictions, as reported by WCVB. Despite the hang-up, Healey has expressed readiness to consider the budget on arrival, and with outdoor dining slated to commence on May 1, eateries have at least one alternative revenue stream flowing back. As for to-go cocktails, the debate is destined to keep pouring into conference committees, with a decision that might just drag on till July – leaving some Bay Staters parched for their portables.