I love Utah politics

[MartyFunkhouser]

this is a good thing for them right?

No it is bad for them. A club license was pretty highly sought out locally. It allowed the establishment to have children in the place and serve alcohol as well. It allowed this with a lower percentage of profits being from food and a higher percentage from alcohol sales. The people that are losing the club designation are having to decide between converting to a full time bar (no more families) or restructuring the business such that a greater percentage of the income comes from food sales.

[Flystripper]

Utah liquor laws are so strange.


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[smokymountainrain]

I have a non-LDS co-worker who went to a town hall meeting last night to see her local Utah State Senator and Representative. She and her husband own a pub - so Utah's new laws that do away with the Zion Curtain, while also doing away with the "club" designation and essentially require them to turn their pub into either a bar or a restaurant effects her quite a bit.

Anyway - she said she wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry when Senator Stephenson began the meeting by asking "Brother Young" to say an opening prayer and "Sister Johnson" to lead everyone in the pledge of allegiance. If that wasn't enough to send her over the edge - the fact that the biggest issue people wanted to discuss was replacing the Philo T Farnsworth statue in our nation's capitol with a stature of Brigham Young didn't do her any favors.

This morning she asks me "Do these guys even realize there are some people that live in Utah that aren't Mormon?" Followed closely by "I think he did it that way because he wanted us to know who is really running the show."

I thought they wanted to replace it with a statue of some lady. the first female state senator or something of the sort.

[USUC]

It truly saddens me that the Farnsworth statue is getting replaced. I used to work in Hatch's DC office and occasionally had to give tours of the capitol building because ther interns were terrible. Utah constituents would call in for a tour and there were often extended family members from Idaho in the group. Nothing brought me more joy than showing the Farnsworth statue when there were Idahoans in the group. It was scandalous that Utah claimed him and the angry lectures I received warmed my soul.

[Northwestcoug]

It's happening:

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[Copelius]

It's happening:

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He is endorsing me and funding my campaign.

[Northwestcoug]

He is endorsing me and funding my campaign.

Sweet! Please share your platform with us.

[Copelius]

Sweet! Please share your platform with us.

Whatever my handlers tell me it is. Seriously, that question made me pause enough to think about something to say that I realized I really don't care enough but to throw in a snarky comment here and there. I withdraw my candidacy.

[Eddie]

I pretty sure that she is correct on that one. I wonder what the affect on the hospitality industry will be with the new line of liquor laws in Utah, including the .05 DUI. I imagine it is going to hurt those industries. It is pretty absurd that your friends have to choose to convert their establishment to a bar. One thing is clear that every time there is a change in the law that gives with one hand, it takes back with a minimum of 2 hands.

I didn't think it was quite as nefarious as "showing people the church runs the state". But I could see it as an act of wanting to draw in the majority of the audience and have them identify with him - even identifying him as "the leader" much like a church leader who opens meetings by calling on someone to pray.

this is a good thing for them right?

Not exactly. The property they own is large enough that it would be a pretty big bar. And they aren't sure they could make it as just a restaurant.

I don't remember the exact details - but it all revolves around how much of the establishment's income is from food and how much is from alcohol. Just for arguments sake (meaning I'm totally make up the numbers) let's say that for a restaurant to be a restaurant, a minimum of 70% of their income must come from selling food as opposed to selling alcohol. A bar, on the other hand, can have 100% of it's income based on alcohol sales.

Well - up until last year, there was a license in Utah that allowed for "clubs" of the pub variety. These folks had to have at least 60% of their income from selling food, but could get 40% from alcohol. Last year, in order to simplify they said, all of this changed and there are only bars and restaurants now. Those other licenses no longer exist.

In my friend/co-worker's establishment - there is a bar on one side and primarily restaurant on the other. They bought it during the "zion curtain" days - so there is a visual barrier that makes it so that people in the restaurant can't see the bar where drinks are mixed. Things are going OK for them - but if they had to be fully bar or fully restaurant they would lose part of their customer base and financially things would start to get tight as far as staying in business.

On top of that - as far as them potentially converting into a bar - well, then they would also suddenly be subject to local city ordinances as to how many bars they'll allow in Draper. There are currently 6-7 of these "club" type establishments in the area - and something tells me Draper City isn't going to go for 6-7 new bars in the neighborhood - even if the customer base would support it. So for some, it just means going out of business.

Last year everyone was so excited about Utah doing away with the zion curtain, that the legislators jumped on board without recognizing some of the other changes that particular bill brought about. And so much of it seems to revolve around the bar structure where the drinks are made and served.

It drives her absolutely CRAZY that places like Texas Roadhouse can have their bar right there in the middle of their restaurant and no one cares that little kids see the bar - because they make 70%+ of their money from food instead of alcohol. But in her establishment - where people in the restaurant side can't really even see the bar - they may have to close down because they sell too much alcohol.

And it makes her even MORE crazy that the legislature seems to be saying that they want more people drinking alcohol on an empty stomach - pushing establishments to be bars that sell primarily alcohol versus clubs that sell primarily food, but more alcohol than a restaurant.

[Flystripper]

that's just Koo koo for cocoa puffs

[old_gregg]

funk, you know that you can buy liquor at safeway in california, right?

[MartyFunkhouser]

funk, you know that you can buy liquor at safeway in california, right?

Tell me more about this? I didn't know that other places have different liquor laws and more availability. Thank you for pointing me to this fact.

For the most part, the liquor laws in Utah are just an annoyance. The biggest annoyance is that distribution into the state sucks. Of course, the flip side of this is that it has created a really solid craft beer scene in Utah. Utah makes good beer. Utah also has a developing distilled spirit scene as well. High West was the first in 2007. In just over 10 years, it has kind of exploded how many distilleries are here.

The biggest frustration is the way that nonsensical things are pushed through in ways that hurt businesses in the state.

[BigFatMeanie]

I love reading the Count My Vote posts on Facebook because the Eagle Forum-type nutjobs go absolutely apeshit in the comments, ranting about how allowing a candidate to get on the ballot via a signature drive is all a plot of corporations and outside money and commies and socialists and evildoers of every stripe to control us and take away our freedom.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I love reading the Count My Vote posts on Facebook because the Eagle Forum-type nutjobs go absolutely apeshit in the comments, ranting about how allowing a candidate to get on the ballot via a signature drive is all a plot of corporations and outside money and commies and socialists and evildoers of every stripe to control us and take away our freedom.

I can't stand those people. God bless Count My Vote and shame on the Utah republican party leaders.

[old_gregg]

Tell me more about this? I didn't know that other places have different liquor laws and more availability. Thank you for pointing me to this fact.

For the most part, the liquor laws in Utah are just an annoyance. The biggest annoyance is that distribution into the state sucks. Of course, the flip side of this is that it has created a really solid craft beer scene in Utah. Utah makes good beer. Utah also has a developing distilled spirit scene as well. High West was the first in 2007. In just over 10 years, it has kind of exploded how many distilleries are here.

The biggest frustration is the way that nonsensical things are pushed through in ways that hurt businesses in the state.

just saying it might be time for a move bro