Last week, Texas legislators approved a bill to allow restaurants to sell beer, wine and cocktails along with takeout and delivery food orders.
The measure makes the temporary move by Gov. Greg Abbott to help the struggling restaurant industry during the COVID-19 shutdown a permanent one.
The idea had broad bipartisan support. All that's missing is Abbott's signature, which is almost certain.
We think it's a good idea. Restaurants have been hard hit by the pandemic and subsequent restrictions. The ability to sell alcoholic beverages to-go has been a bright spot in a seas of red ink.
And the measure raises an inevitable question for a place like our own Texarkana, Texas, which was mostly dry until a few years ago. Restaurants can now sell alcohol without the legal fiction of being a "private club" and beer and wine are available in retail stores.
Just about the only thing missing in Texarkana is the retail sale of hard liquor, long the exclusive domain of the Arkansas side. We wonder how long that will last, though, now that there are so many avenues to alcohol consumption now permissible.
No doubt some residents will still oppose retail liquor sales. But in our view, the opposition might delay liquor sales for a little while longer, but it's a losing battle. It's coming, and Texas-side residents - Arkansas-side liquor retailers, too - had better get ready.