UPDATED: House Passes Omnibus Liquor Bill, Keeping 'Four Firkins' Legislation Alive

The Minnesota House on Tuesday afternoon passed its omnibus liquor bill, 127-5, which for now keeps the "Four Firkins bill" alive.

That legislation would allow Minnesota liquor stores to sell store-branded merchandise, such as T-shirts. The House version of the bill was authored by St. Louis Park Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) earlier this year after he spoke with Jason Alvey, owner of St. Louis Park craft beer store .

Alvey, who has said he simply wants to be able to better market his store by selling Four Firkins merchandise to loyal customers, was pleased by Tuesday's news.

"It's good that it passed," he said.

But the proposal is not yet law. A Senate version of the bill, authored by Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44), into the Senate's omnibus package. Simon said he expects Latz to try to add the legislation back in via an amendment, but if that fails, a conference committee will be called. Simon said a conference committee would convene next week, and he hopes—and cautiously expects—that the "Four Firkins bill" will make the cut.

"I'm pretty optimistic," the legislator said. "We need to make sure our folks stand tall."

To that end, Simon said he would be talking to Alvey, asking the business owner to contact the conference committee members once they are selected and push for the legislation to go forward.