Senate opposes easing Utah liquor laws

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s effort to ease Utah liquor laws by eliminating private club membership requirements has run into a major hurdle — the state Senate.

"Status quo is where we're going to stay," Senate President-elect Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said Monday. And the Senate's GOP majority unanimously agrees, he said.

"The position was that unless we find something that protects our children and protects us from drunken drivers, we're in favor of no change," Waddoups said.

Huntsman proposed the change earlier this year after the Utah Hospitality Association launched an initiative petition drive to do away with the fees and forms now needed to drink in the state's equivalent of bars.

The governor has called for "greater normalcy" in the state's liquor laws and said tourism is being hurt by requirements that would-be drinkers must first pay membership fees and fill out application forms.

But Waddoups said the law isn't a problem for tourists.

"We've got lots of things to offer in the state of Utah," he said, citing a number of tourist attractions. "If all we've got to offer them is alcohol, they'd better not come."

The incoming Senate leader said people patronizing private clubs have to be identified. "We need to do everything we can to keep people from driving impaired," Waddoups said. "Private club memberships have been a help in identifying those people."

That wasn't the case, however, when his wife, Anna Kay, was in an accident with a drunken driver several years ago. Waddoups said the car she was driving was rear-ended at 9 a.m., long after private clubs had closed for the night.

He said the accident, which left his wife with chronic back and other problems, has influenced his attitude toward liquor regulation. "I've become much more educated," Waddoups said. "Frankly, I find that we have a lot of irresponsible drinkers in this state."

Senate opposition isn't going to stop Huntsman, his spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley said.

"Gov. Huntsman is still committed to alcohol reform, including private clubs. Certainly, there is a lot of work to be done with legislators," Roskelley said. "He hopes to see significant reforms this legislative session."

The Utah Hospitality Association isn't giving up, either.

"I am baffled at the logic of the state Senate," said Dave Morris, owner of Piper Down, a private club on State Street and a member of the association's board of directors.

Morris said he's had tourists leave his club after being told they had to buy a membership. A German couple, he said, didn't know enough English to understand what a membership even was. "They knew how to say 'burger' and they knew how to say 'beer.' They walked away."