Utah lawmakers unveil liquor-related bills

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Dec 19, 2008 by Bob Bernick Jr. Deseret News

One step toward slightly looser liquor laws, and another step to tighten them, as legislators continue to unveil liquor-related bills in the run-up to the 2009 general session.

Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, wants to do away with the long tradition of placing a state liquor commission stamp on every legally sold bottle of hard liquor and wine in the state.

And Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, wants to make adults (particularly parents) criminally liable if they knowingly approve and aid in providing liquor to minors on the adults' property.

Both bills are still being drafted, and will join multiple other bills that are being drafted, or at least discussed. The most broad- reaching -- and still unseen -- is a measure pushed by GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. that reportedly would do away with private club membership fees.

Hutchings says those pushing him on his "social host and minors" bill want "very severe" penalties. "They are talking about a third- degree felony" if an adult is convicted of hosting an alcohol-and- minors party.

Hutchings is looking for something less severe, and he wants some kinds of protections for rural landowners. "You may have a part of your farm that is 20 minutes away from your house, and you shouldn't be liable for activities so far away."

Still, there should be some increased penalty for a responsible adult -- "or should I say an irresponsible adult" -- who helps or allows those under 21 to drink liquor on their property, Hutchings says.

Meanwhile, McCoy and state liquor officials say the state would save around $1 million a year if it did away with stamping each liquor bottle sold in the state.

Technology changes the need for the stamp, McCoy says. And doing away with the stamps "is just another move toward changing some of our quirky" and unneeded liquor laws, he said.

State liquor law enforcement agents, if they so wished, could still take a bottle of wine brought to a restaurant by a patron, scan the bar code on the bottle, and find out it if was legally sold by a state liquor store.

And it would still be illegal to bring any liquor into Utah from outside of the state, McCoy said.

"Today such enforcement is a shame," he said. If someone brings an expensive bottle of wine from California for a ski trip, for example, he can either peel a real Utah liquor stamp off of a bottle purchased here and put it on his California wine, or he can empty his Utah bottle and pour the California wine into that -- and take that wine into a restaurant to have it poured by a server.

McCoy's bill would also make uniform all hours of serving liquor. Currently, a private club can start serving liquor at 10 a.m., while a restaurant can't serve until noon.

"I call this my brunch bill -- you could get a Bloody Mary with your brunch at 10 a.m. It only makes sense," McCoy said.

Finally, last year McCoy passed a bill that allowed state liquor stores to be open on Election Day. His new bill would allow liquor sales in restaurants and private clubs when polls are open. "I don't buy votes with liquor," he said jokingly. "I can't speak for other members of the Legislature."

E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com