Tennessee Wine in groceries bill corked again

Tennessee legislators effectively killed a bill Wednesday that would have allowed grocery and convenience stores to sell wine.

Members of the House State & Local Government subcommittee voted to defer the bill until summer 2012, sealing its fate for this legislative session.

While a number of liquor store owners and their supporters left Wednesday’s meeting jubilant, Jarron Springer, president of the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association, told the Nashville Business Journal that the Legislature missed a chance to create jobs and more sales tax revenue.“The state’s looking for money; they’re looking for jobs,” Springer said.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that such legislation has failed.