Houma Republican Tanner Magee files a House bill that would allow local companies to use independent contractors to deliver alcohol. Current law says alcohol home deliveries have to be conducted by an hourly-wage employee of the business.
“Putting them at a competitive disadvantage against the Amazons of the world. As everything is moving online, the grocery store business is moving online and to do that, they need to deliver their products,” said Magee.
Rouses Supermarket facilitates deliveries through independent contractors. Recent changes for food delivery service Waitr now follow that same model. However, Magee says originally, Waitr had its delivery methods in compliance with the current law.
“Apparently, it doesn’t work and I think that Rouses was correct that you have to use independent contractors for it to financially make sense and so I think they learned their lesson and now they are moving towards Rouses’ business model,” said Magee.
Magee says his bill is important because of the state’s need to keep up with modern times adding one of the problems that have held the state back is the unwillingness to change.
“Everything is going to phones, everything is going to apps, everything is going online and if we don’t allow our local business to grow, we won’t have any fortune companies here. Rouses is one of the biggest growing supermarket chains in the United States,” said Magee.
