AUGUSTA – Lawmakers heard testimony on three separate proposals that would allow Mainers to purchase wine over the Internet during public hearings on Monday.

Proponents said wine aficionados are limited in what they can buy because the state currently bans such transactions.

Each bill sought to strike a balance between allowing adults open access to wines not available in the state and the potential of increased access of alcohol to minors.

But they each came up short, according to Lt. David Bowler of the Department of Public Safety, who said he opposed all the direct shipping bills.

“We’ve had that face-to-face policy (for purchasing alcohol) in place and we don’t ever want to lose that; our concerns about underage access will always be there,” he said.

Bowler said it would be costly to try to ensure that companies like FedEx and UPS were following proper protocol when delivering boxes marked as containing alcohol.

The first bill heard by the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee, proposed by Rep. David Webster, D-Freeport, would allow Mainers to purchase wine online but not have it shipped directly to them.

Instead, the wine would be shipped to a “port-of-entry” registered with the state. The direct shipper would pay all necessary taxes and consumers would have to prove their age when picking up their order, Webster said.

A proposal by Sen. Deb Simpson, D-Auburn, would allow Mainers to obtain a wine connoisseur permit for an annual fee of $75. The fee is meant to cover excise and alcohol premium taxes, and the permit would allow them to purchase up to 12 cases of wine per year. Under this bill, the wine would be shipped directly to the purchaser’s home.

But wine producers would also have to purchase a permit to sell wine in Maine for $100 per year. This would hold both sides accountable, Simpson said.

“The central feature to this bill is the resurrection of an earlier provision in Maine law that was repealed because it was not utilized,” Simpson said, referring to the wine connoisseur permit. “Now is the time to bring it back.”

The third measure, proposed by Rep. Melissa Walsh Innes, D-Yarmouth, is modeled after similar legislation in 35 other states.

It would establish just one permit for wine producers wishing to ship directly to Maine consumers, but not require Mainers to register themselves with state government in order to make the Internet wine purchases.

Rep. Stacey Fitts, R-Pittsfield, who serves on the committee and was a co-sponsor to Innes’ bill, said the wine connoisseur language from Simpson’s bill was dropped from Maine law for a reason.

“People were not interested in receiving shipments when they had to register themselves; there’s a limit in how far government has to go to oversee what we do in our own time,” he said.

Other stakeholders who testified on the bills were representatives from substance abuse groups, the Maine Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association, the Maine Grocers’ Association, a local winery and a group representing the interests of California wineries.

Rick McCarthy of the Maine Grocers’ Association opposed all three measures, stating they would take business away from Maine grocers, who pay Maine taxes and employ Maine people.

“Maine retailers currently offer over 4,000 different wine labels,” he said. “They work hard to identify and meet the needs of their customers.”

Cheryl Timberlake, executive vice president of the Maine Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association, supported Simpson’s bill but opposed the competing measures.

The committee will schedule a work session in the coming weeks.