Though Gov. Wes Moore has signaled an interest in allowing liquor to be sold in Maryland grocery stores, state Senate President Bill Ferguson said Monday that it isn’t at the top of his list of legislative priorities.

“This is not something that we’re going to be spending a lot of brain power trying to figure out,” Ferguson said in an interview Monday with The Baltimore Sun.

In December, Moore, a Democrat, said he would support legislation that would allow Maryland grocery stores to sell beer and wine.

“I look forward to working with our legislative partners to advance this overdue change in policy to advance consumer choice and economic competitiveness that enjoys the support of the vast majority of Marylanders across political parties and regions across the state,” he said in a statement.

Maryland is currently one of three states that prohibits the sale of beer and wine in its grocery stores.

The prohibition of the sale is set at the state level. Each of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions has its own policy regarding where and when alcohol can be purchased and consumed. Small business owners across the state have expressed concern that a statewide policy could cripple their bottom lines.

That’s just one of House Economic Matters Committee Chair CT Wilson’s concerns, which he described as “picking big businesses over small.” Any bill that would allow for the sale of alcohol in grocery stores likely would go through the House Economic Matters Committee.

“It’s so minuscule in the grand scheme of things, and I’ll say I have never been a supporter of that and the reasons are many,” Wilson, a Charles County Democrat, said of allowing the sale of beer and wine in grocery stores.

Wilson is also concerned about a rise in alcoholism and the potential for teenagers to walk out of stores with it, because many large grocery chains are more lenient about shoplifting.

“I don’t think its a broke system. I think there’s a lot of things we need to worry about,” he said. “I don’t believe the appetite is there.”

Lawmakers will convene for the 2025 legislative session Wednesday with a lot of unknowns to navigate, including how to balance the budget for the 2026 fiscal year in light of a $3 billion deficit and how to legislate around potential policies that President-elect Donald Trump may implement after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Ferguson said that, with everything to come during the 90-day session, the sale of beer and wine in grocery stores is “not one of the top driving priorities.” However, if there were a “negotiated compromise” between alcohol retailers and distributors regarding how to move forward, “we would consider it,” he said.

“Ultimately, it is more nuanced than just ‘now Safeway sells Bud Light,’” Ferguson said in an interview with The Sun. “There are implications about how this will play out in Maryland, and to do it in a way that doesn’t hurt small businesses, takes some serious work and some legislating that would be very nuanced across the state.”

Have a news tip? Hannah Gaskill can be reached at hgaskill@baltsun.com.