Lawmakers OK liquor reforms

What's being called the most significant overhaul of Utah's liquor laws in decades passed the Senate and the House on Monday.

Both SB187 and HB347 eliminate private club membership requirements as well as the so-called "Zion curtain" barriers intended to separate customers from drink service in the bar areas of restaurants.

Private clubs will now have to electronically scan the IDs of any customers who appear to be 35 or younger, information that will be kept on site for seven days and available during that time to law enforcement.

Underage customers will no longer be allowed in the bar areas of existing restaurants, an attempt to prevent children from seeing drinks being prepared. With the often-glass barriers removed, adult customers will be able to be served over the bar.

Underage customers will be welcome at the bar or counter of new restaurants. That's because new restaurants will be required to pour and mix drinks out of sight of customers, behind a barrier that could be a wall or a separate room.

The compromise was negotiated over several weeks between the sponsors of the bills, Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, and Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, and representatives of a variety of groups, including the hospitality and restaurant associations, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"We are not loosening the liquor laws in the state of Utah," Hughes said before the House voted 66-8 to pass his bill. He called the effort a "modernizing" of how the state regulates liquor.

Valentine, whose bill did not initially include the sweeping changes in Utah's liquor laws approved Monday, called the compromise "probably the largest piece of legislation ever dealt with on alcohol policy in 40 years." His bill was approved 28-0.

Valentine said he expects his bill to pass in the House because it is "more comprehensive." While the two bills are not identical, both contain the key elements of the compromise, he said.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. sought the change, saying the state's image was being hurt by requirements viewed as quirky by tourists. Patrons of private clubs, Utah's equivalent of bars, have had to fill out applications and pay fees in order to drink.

At a press conference called Monday morning to announce the compromise, Huntsman said the state was "moving toward much greater normalization today in our alcohol policy."

The compromise also includes other pieces of legislation aimed at curbing drunken driving by making repeat offenders forfeit their vehicles and mandating stiffer penalties for underage offenders. The governor called those measures "appropriate safeguards we think are essential and critical."