The Overview
If you live in Raynham, Massachusetts, you could soon have one more place to pick up take-home alcohol, thanks to a new state law signed September 16, 2026. Massachusetts House Bill 5099, an act authorizing the town of Raynham to grant an additional license for the sale of all alcoholic beverages not to be drunk on the premises, became law Sept. 16 when Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed it.
Massachusetts caps the number of off-premises alcohol licenses a town can issue based on population, a system that has left dozens of municipalities with fewer licenses than local businesses want. Towns that want to exceed that cap must go through the state legislature to get a special exemption, which is what Raynham did here.
What the Law Does
That license is on top of whatever number Raynham was already permitted to grant under the state's population-based quota system.
Once the town has the authority, local officials would still need to go through Raynham's standard licensing process to actually award the new license, and the law itself does not name a specific applicant or location.
Legislative Status
The bill was cosponsored by Rep. Dennis Gallagher (D) and Sen. Kelly Dooner (R); the lead sponsor was the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. The bill drew support from both chambers and both parties, with a Democrat in the House and a Republican in the Senate both backing it.
The State House News Service reported that both the Massachusetts House and Senate enacted the bill on Sept. 10. That left the governor less than a week to act before she signed it.
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