Happy hour may return to MA as bill set to be introduced on Beacon Hill

BOSTON — The hour when happy hours could return to Massachusetts is approaching. And people in Boston seem to like the idea.

“I think that it’s a great idea and something that should be re-instituted in Massachusetts,” said Leanna Heim of Boston.

And she’s not alone.

“Yeah, I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to go, every other state has them,” said Paul Garrity of Somerville.

The suggestion poured forth as a way to support restaurants and bars hard hit during the pandemic. Massachusetts State Representative Mike Connolly, whose district straddles Cambridge and Somerville, will introduce a bill this week on Beacon Hill. In a statement he told Boston 25 News:

“… it proposes to create a legislative commission to bring stakeholders together to find consensus for revising the decades-old ban on happy hour as a potential tool of economic benefit for recovering restaurants and bars.”

That ban went into effect in 1984 when there was a nationwide push to raise the drinking age. Massachusetts did that and then banned happy hours too. But people say the times and drinking habits have changed.

“I think people are a lot more conscious of drunk driving laws, a lot more than they were back when happy hour is working Vogue here in Massachusetts,” Garrity said.

Besides that, others add that today there are other options to keep people from getting behind the wheel.

“But now with all the rideshares, there’s really no excuse for getting behind the wheel when you can be safe,” said Amy Hayes.

©2021 Cox Media Group