Does being good host mean serving alcohol?

Just what kind of liquor should 6,000 state legislators be offered at a Capitol reception before they pack into buses and go to Temple Square to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?

Can the lawmakers even legally drink booze on the Capitol grounds?

Such are some of the weighty questions a special committee of Utah legislators and staffers are struggling with as they prepare to host the national convention of the National Council of State Legislatures next summer.

Without a dissenting vote, the Utah hosting committee voted Monday afternoon to provide wine and beer free at the NCSL opening social next July. But not mixed drinks. Hard liquor would cost a bit more, a small factor in hosting the $1 million event.

But do you really want legislators whooping it up in the Tabernacle after hearing the choir sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic?"

"Some people wonder if you can get a drink in Utah," said Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Sandy. "I don't know if we want to start out the opening night (of the NCSL convention) with some saying no — you don't get a (mixed) drink," she said. "I want to be a good host."

But other legislators said large firms that usually sponsor various NCSL convention events maintain hospitality suites in various hotels where convention-goers are staying. And those suites usually have open bars — free booze. "Maybe we could encourage more of those" suites, said House Minority Leader Brent Goodfellow, D-West Valley City.

Can legislators even have an open bar on the Capitol grounds, since booze is usually banned from all state property, another legislator asked. "We'll research that," said committee co-chairman Sen. Pete Knudson, R-Brigham City.

"And who passed these stupid (liquor) laws?" he then joked. Of course, the Legislature did.

Preliminary budgets presented Monday show Utah legislators will have to raise around $1 million to host the event, which is estimated to bring in more than $7 million in tourist trade for the four-day convention.

The closing social is the big event, costing upward of $300,000. Legislators voted to visit two possible sites — the Olympic Oval and the new Utah Cultural Celebration Center, both in the central part of the Salt Lake Valley.