(Crossposted to Saintless.com)
This morning, the Senate Site streamed live video for the Alcohol Policy Press Conference. Kudos to them for keeping those of us at home in the loop! Plenty of us Twittered this live, you can find it under the hashtag #UTAP.
If you don’t want to sift through those, here’s the recap: Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. opened the presser, but didn’t say much outside of buttering up Senator Valentine, and making sure we knew that Utah’s alcohol laws are quirky, before introducing Senator Greg Hughes. He did give a sneak peak by saying that we will be disposing of membership and fee requirements, and of the glass wall known as the Zion Curtain.
Sen. Hughes had nothing of substance to say. He described Utah’s liquor laws, while avoiding the term “quirky”, but said Utah has a unique approach and he likes it, darn it! He also said that there were lots of stakeholders, and they usually can’t agree on anything, but that they did this. Interestingly, he did say that anyone who had a stake in this were at the table, but I’m wondering why I didn’t get an invite?
Hughes did say something about scanning IDs, and pointed out that he has a big bag of fake IDs, if you don’t believe underage drinking is a problem. He spent most of the time kissing up to people and groups like MADD, before giving the podium to Senator Valentine.
Senator Valentine really got to the meat of what the new laws will be. You notice that there’s no doubt this will pass. This new bill will be a substitute for SB 187.
- There will be no more Zion Curtain.
- Private Clubs will no longer be required, but businesses that wish to can retain that status.
- Anyone appearing under the age of 35 will have to have a scannable ID, and a record of that will be kept for 5 days.
- That record will be made available to law enforcement agencies as needed.
- There will be a flat fee, not a graduated fee for liquor license holders.
- New restaurants cannot have a bar area. Drinks must be prepared in a back room.
- Existing restaurants will be grandfathered.
- Existing restaurants can remove the Zion Curtain.
- Existing restaurants that wish to remodel to remove bar area will get a $30,000 credit to DABC.
- The remodeling will be paid for with Senator Scott McCoy’s SB 106 that removes tags from bottles of alcohol sold in Utah.
- There’s a new Resort License (no further explanation)
- Keeping provision that you can’t look drunk.
That was all the Valentine explained. I’m not sure who the next speaker was, but he let us know that even though he’s from Utah County, he knows alcohol because he’s been to Europe. (As Twitter user @nicktjohnson explained: They also have mass-transit in Europe.)
There will be new, tougher penalties enacted:
- If you drink and drive in Utah, you WILL lose your license.
- Minors that get caught will lose their license until they are 21. No explanation as to what “getting caught” entails. I’m wondering if this means getting caught trying to get into a bar, or getting caught drinking.
- Repeat offenders (I’m assuming DUI) will have penalties doubled.
The Gov took another moment at the mic to explain that this signals the world that we’re keeping pace with change, and that this is an attempt to balance our laws.
The Q&A gave some additional explanation about bars in restaurants. Existing restaurants can take down the Zion curtain, and kids will not be allowed to be seated at the bar areas. The new restaurants can serve alcohol, but cannot have a bar in the facility.
One of the Q&A questions was about the LDS Church, and whether they were one of the stakeholders. I’m not sure if it was Hughes or Valentine that stepped up, but he explained that they were definitely a stakeholder, they gave much input on this new set of laws, and that they will always be an important component of any liquor legislation in Utah.
Filed under: Liquor Laws, Utah Legislature
In his answer to the LDS chlurch being involved, I am sure that Rep. Hughes stated that other churches were invited to participate. I would like to know which churches were invited an who attended. My church holds a liquor license, but I do not believe that we were contacted to participate.
Is the bar the same thing as a counter?
It’s been a while, but I don’t recall Hughes specifically mentioning other churches. If my memory serves correctly, he was rather vague about who had been invited to the discussion.
A bar, in this context, is the area of a restaurant where the liquor is stored, and a bartender mixes the drinks. Often, those areas will have seating, with taller tables and chairs.
The statement, “The new restaurants can serve alcohol, but cannot have a bar in the facility.” Isn’t quite accurate. The bars must be in a separate room where minors will not be admitted. However, it will be within the same facility.
Sean,
I guess it depends on what your definition of a bar is. In this case, the Legislature is trying to define it as an area where alcoholic drinks are served, not where they are prepared.
– M
I think this legislation is a step in the right direction, but they’re ignoring an even bigger problem: nightclub violence. Underage drinking is obviously important to prevent, but violence constitutes a far greater risk to entire communities because it hurts everybody, including the victims, taxpayers, and makes cities even more vulnerable to major crime when so many cops are deployed to a single venue because of a major fight or shooting.
My venue participates in the “Club Watch Community Connection” (google it) for this very reason. Since we joined, our underage drinking and violence problems have been reduced by at least 60% in less than a month. No simple ID scanner is going to achieve those kinds of results. As a venue operator, I hope more people in Utah participate in the program because it keeps all our venues safe from both underage drinking and more severe crime and violence.
I know that in the bar I work for we were already planning on putting the Club Watch Community Connection to work for us. I think this change in law just got the owners to go a head and order it from their website
If you want to see a reader’s feedback
, I rate this article for four from five. Detailed info, but I just have to go to that damn google to find the missed parts. Thanks, anyway!
I’m glad to see Utah join the 21st century.
Joined the 21st century??? Hahahaha…. This type of crap is the reason why nobody wants to go to Utah. Maybe Utah should become it’s own country.
My 19 year old goes to 2 colleges and works.Gets nothing but A,s with a B now and then.If she drinks some beer at a party should she lose her license if she,s never been in touble in her life?For anything ever.Do I approve of her drinking?Hell no.!!
Because this is where we,re at.Does the punishment fit the misdemeanor, when it has nothing to do with a motor vehicle whatsoever?
What kind of warped ,idiotic close minded ,”fecal matter for brains”, thinking is this?
I’m living in Europe, planning to visit Utah in April 2011. I’m a bit confused by the alcohol laws… What happens if you got some bottles of beer on board your car, but do not plan to drink the beer while driving.
Will you get a penalty for driving with alcoloh on board ? Will xyou have to prove that you didn’t drink any beer ? How do you prove this : any kind of alcohol testing ?
Thanks for smarting me up on this.
I think Utah is one of the most retarded states in the entire US to live in and fulll of nothing but stupid LDS mormons. Also i would like to add the that Utah has some of the most retarded laws all becuase MORMONS RUN IIT. So what i have to really say about this state is FUK UTAH with a passion!!!!!!!!!!
[...] Legislature. http://utahlegislaturewatch.org/2009/03/09/utahs-new-alcohol-laws/ [...]