COLUMBIA - A bill setting a November referendum on ending the minibottle requirement passed the state House 90-10 on Wednesday with little discussion.

The companion bill spelling out the way the new law would work if voters approve the change passed 94-10 at the end of the session in June.

The Senate has similar bills awaiting passage.

Supporters say they have the votes to pass both bills in the upper chamber as well.

Ending the requirement to use minibottles in bars is the top priority of the state's hospitality industry.

Unlike previous proposals, the current bills have gathered more steam because they allow bar owners to continue to use minibottles if they wish.

South Carolina is the last state in the nation requiring bars to use minibottles. The hospitality industry, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, highway safety groups and other proponents say the 1.7-ounce bottles make too large a drink and that the standard cocktail is 1.25 ounces. Opponents say that with minibottles, customers know they won't get watered-down cocktails.

"I'm pleased that after years of education and labor that the state of South Carolina now has offered an option with regard to the use of minibottles," state Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, said after the vote.

The change will make the streets safer and save lives, he said, but the battle isn't over because after the Senate passes the bills, the next step is the public election.

"We need to be vigilant," because opponents of the change, including big liquor companies that sell minibottles, may join the campaign against the change, Clemmons said.

The House vote came on second of three readings. Third reading, which should come today, is a formality.

South Carolina adopted minibottles in 1974, switching from legal brown-bagging in which customers could bring liquor to restaurants and bars that permitted the practice.

At the time, nearly 20 other states used minibottles, but others abandoned them over the years.