SALT LAKE CITY — The omnibus alcohol bill has cleared a House committee, ushering in new policy that will impact Utahns who imbibe.
As FOX 13 News first reported last month, House Bill 548 most notably will increase the number of bar and restaurant liquor licenses in the state. Rep. Jefferson Burton, R-Salem, is proposing a phased in expansion of the highly-coveted licenses over the next seven years. But the amount offered — 312 additional full-service restaurant licenses and 136 more bar licenses — is still less than what a state study recommended for Utah in order to meet demand.
Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services Commission Chair Tara Thue warned the House Business & Labor Committee they may still face problems down the road.
"Even though we’ve taken a step in the right direction, according to the data provided by DABS staff to the commission, we will probably still run into scarcity issues given the denominator numbers in the new quota. I don’t think it will happen immediately, but I think it will happen," she said.
Currently, Utah has an arbitrary quota of one bar license per 10,200 people. The bill changes that to one per 7,246 by 2031. Still, some objected to the expansion of bar licenses at all.
"This bar quota is a significant, a very significant public safety hit," said Art Brown of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Glendon Mitchell, whose grandson, Eli, was killed by a drunk driver, also spoke against the idea.
"I would just ask that there be a study completed first on the public safety risk before a significant increase in bar licenses," he told the committee.
Rep. Burton acknowledged it is a balancing act.
"For some as you noticed here today? That’s too much," he told FOX 13 News after Friday's hearing. "For others, it’s not enough. The reason we’re doing a sliding scale is we’re going to watch and if we need more? We’ll provide more."
The annual alcohol policy bill will also do some new things:
- The price of liquor will go up a half percent. Currently, liquor is sold in Utah at cost plus 88% markup. It will now increase to cost plus 88.5%. That money will be earmarked toward addiction recovery programs through the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund.
- People will be able to carry a drink from a hotel bar or restaurant to their room, so long as the drink is in an unmarked "opaque" cup.
- Frozen alcoholic drinks like pre-packaged daiquiris or "Otter Pop" style frozen alcoholic beverages will be banned from being sold in state liquor stores.
- Hospitality rooms at Salt Lake City International Airport no longer have to be tethered to an airline.
- Retail licensees can sell bottled or canned cocktails of less than 10% alcohol by volume.
- Police will begin to ask suspected DUI offenders where they were last served. "Place of Last Drink" is designed to track problem places and devote resources to them.
- Victims of a DUI will be able to more easily obtain police reports for possible civil lawsuits.
- Utah will ban the sale of products with more than 80% alcohol by volume like Everclear.
"It's a mighty powerful drink and we have seen deaths from alcohol poisoning with this particular product," Rep. Burton said of the prohibition of Everclear and similar products.
The bill also increases the excise tax on beer by the barrel by $1 over the next four years. The Utah Beer Wholesalers Association, which represents major beer distributors, has objected to the price increase. The Utah Prevention Coalition Association, which represents substance abuse prevention groups, said it wasn't high enough.
The bill also authorizes a study to scrutinize "cash bars" at events to track cash purchases, maintain receipts and track people's name and address based on an ID check. That raised eyebrows with lawmakers on the committee.
"Are they scanning people’s IDs every time they get a drink and then marking how many they get?" asked Rep. Ashlee Matthews, D-West Jordan.
"Essentially now, when you purchase alcohol you are ID'd and then your credit card is scanned each time you buy a drink which produces a record," Rep. Burton replied, referencing licensed bars. "The problem with cash bars is when you buy them just with cash there is no record. This is what we’re going to tackle in the study is to find how best to do that. It could be as simple as writing the name, address or the name and state of the person on the receipt and holding onto it for seven days in case there’s an accident."
Committee Chair Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, said he had concerns.
"That part of it really makes me uncomfortable, just the whole tracking part of it," he told Rep. Burton.
As of now, the cash bar tracking is part of a study.
The bill passed unanimously out of the committee. Liquor policy every year is a delicately crafted piece of legislation on Utah's Capitol Hill involving input from numerous stakeholders including hospitality groups, alcohol industry representatives, alcohol abuse prevention advocates and even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We’re a growing population, we have people who partake with alcoholic beverages," Chair Maloy said. "We want to make sure they have the ability to do that but we want to make sure it’s balanced with safe consumption."
