If you want to have a drink at 6 a.m. while eating out, this bill will let you

Bloody Mary and mimosa lovers, get ready to rise and shine.

A bill before Kansas lawmakers would allow restaurants and bars to begin serving alcohol at 6 a.m., three hours earlier than the current start time of 9 a.m.

Restaurants want the earlier start time to accommodate growing breakfast and brunch crowds. Bars want the change to lure in night shift workers and host watch parties for international sports.

Jon Rolph, president of Wichita-based Sasnak Management, said an earlier start time would benefit his company’s restaurant HomeGrown.

Currently, the restaurant’s alcohol menu is off-limits until 9 a.m., a requirement he called arbitrary.

“It creates confusion, not only for the guests that come in at 8:30 that they have to wait a half hour before they can order off that section, but also for our staff to remember to look at the clock and when they can serve those to make sure we’re complying with the law,” Rolph said.

Under current law, restaurants and bars can’t serve alcohol between 2 a.m. and 9 a.m. But there’s an exception for caterers, who can serve drinks at 6 a.m.

The law should be consistent between caterers and everyone else, said Philip Bradley, a lobbyist for the Kansas Licensed Beverage Association.

And he contends the current law disadvantages some workers.

“We believe there needs to be a place for Kansas workers and Kansas citizens who do the hard work of night shift, third shift, (to) have a place to go after work to unwind, have something to eat and drink as well,” Bradley said.

Bradley also said bars are seeing more demand for watch parties for international sports, such as soccer, that often takes place several time zones away.

No one spoke in opposition to House Bill 2482 at a hearing Tuesday. The House Commerce, Economic Development and Labor Committee plans to take action on the bill Wednesday.

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 4:13 PM with the headline "If you want to have a drink at 6 a.m. while eating out, this bill will let you."