Don’t expect to pick up a bottle of wine at your local grocery store anytime soon.

A pair of bills that would have expanded beer and wine sales to supermarkets and other retailers failed to gain traction in the General Assembly this year, despite winning support from Gov. Wes Moore.

Neither the House nor Senate versions of the legislation received committee votes ahead of crossover, the deadline for bills to pass one chamber and move to the other. Expanding beer and wine sales is popular among Marylanders, supporters say, but many lawmakers dislike the idea and worry that it would kill small liquor stores.

“Why are we going to destroy the last vestige of mom-and-pop retail?” Sen. Benjamin Kramer asked at a committee hearing last month. “To achieve what goal? To ensure that billion-dollar grocery chains have the opportunity to avail themselves of even greater profits?”

The legislation had a powerful backer: Moore, the Democratic governor who tweeted in support of expanding beer and wine sales in a surprise announcement last year.

At the beginning of the session, amid lack of interest from other lawmakers, Moore said the idea was not one of his legislative priorities. A spokesperson declined to comment.

Moore’s initial announcement prompted swift backlash from beer and wine retailers, who said that allowing alcohol sales at grocery stores could cause smaller businesses to close.

Jack Milani, the legislative co-chair of the Maryland State Licensed Beverage Association, thanked the General Assembly for “hearing the concerns of small businesses across the state, including retailers, distillers and brewers and distributors who are concerned about this bill’s negative impact on jobs and the Maryland economy.”

Over 40 states allow alcohol sales in grocery stores, but policies vary widely. Maryland has banned beer and wine sales in grocery and convenience stores since 1978, though some stores that already had a liquor license were grandfathered in.

Del. Marlon Amprey, a Baltimore Democrat who sponsored the House version of the beer and wine bill, said the grandfathered-in stores show that small businesses can still flourish if a nearby supermarket sells alcohol.

“They already coexist in parts of the state,” he said. Amprey’s bill, the more complex of the two, would have allowed grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations to sell beer and wine.

Other amendments to the bill would have imposed a 5% tax on beer and wine purchases at those businesses, with the money going into a fund to help support communities trying to attract grocery stores; requiring the local liquor board to limit the number of licenses permitted within a defined geographic area; and limiting the amount of space grocery stores could dedicate to alcohol sales.

Amprey said the bill’s failure this year came down to timing during a challenging legislative session. He plans to reintroduce the legislation next year, he said.

“I think we can make it happen,” he said. “It’s just a matter of making sure that we do it in a way where we have the least amount of harm possible to our small businesses.”

Sen. Cory McCray, who introduced a more streamlined version of the bill in the Senate, ultimately pulled his bill before it could be killed in committee.

But the Baltimore Democrat still believes beer and wine sales will expand to grocery stores in Maryland eventually.

“I think it’s inevitable,” he said.

Even some opponents seem to agree. Del. C.T. Wilson, who chairs the House’s Economic Matters Committee and has been vocal about his aversion to the bill, said that he hopes its supporters and critics will discuss ways to compromise.

“This is something that’s coming to fruition,” Wilson said, “so I do hope the opponents and proponents try to get together to find out, if this is moving forward, if there’s a way and how it can move forward.”