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FACT BRIEF

Would Wisconsin have the lowest age in the US for serving alcohol if a bill allowing 14-year-olds to serve is made law?

By Tom Kertscher
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YES

On May 1, 2023, two Republican Wisconsin lawmakers, Sen. Rob Stafsholt and Rep. Chanz Green, circulated a bill that would change the law to allow people as young as 14 to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants. All states, including Wisconsin, have a legal minimum drinking age is 21 — something the federal government requires as a condition of receiving full highway funding. Currently, only adults 18 and over can serve alcohol in Wisconsin.

As of Jan. 1, 2022, the state with the lowest legal age for serving alcohol was West Virginia, according to the latest data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

West Virginia's minimum age for serving beer, wine or spirits was 16. The highest minimum age was 21 in Nevada and Utah. The minimum in most states, including Wisconsin, was 18.

According to the Associated Press, the bill's co-sponsors said the current law “causes workforce issues due to an establishment’s underage employees only being able to do part of their job.”

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Alcohol Policy and Information System Minimum Ages for On-Premises Servers and Bartenders
Alcohol Policy Information Center The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act
Representative Robyn Vining (Twitter) Co-sponsorship of LRB-2025/1, relating to: service of alcohol beverages on retail licensed premises by underage persons
AP News Bill would allow 14-year-olds to serve alcohol in Wisconsin
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Wisconsin Watch
Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.