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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR
Garcia
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
3/13/07
HM 96
SHORT TITLE
Creating interim Liquor Licensing review
Committee
SB
ANALYST C. Sanchez
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
NFI
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates, HJM 79
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Memorial 96 would create an interim committee to study liquor licensing issues, receive
testimony and make recommendations regarding appropriate actions to address relevant issues.
HM 96 identifies various issues of concern, including the following:
There has been no comprehensive study of liquor laws since 1981.
Some municipalities have more licenses than the quota system would otherwise permit,
but have been allowed by the Liquor Control Act.
No new full-service licenses can be issued in the foreseeable future, due to the quota
system.
Full-service liquor licenses can be transferred as to ownership and to location. As a
result, they have gained or retained value and can sell for thousands of dollars, contrary
to the goal of the Liquor Control Act.
Due to the cost of a full-service license on the open market, they are beyond the means of
some hospitality businesses that would otherwise create economic development projects.
Restaurant licenses, which permit the sale of beer and wine with meals, do not serve the
pg_0002
House Memorial 96 – Page
2
needs of some restaurants, hotels, destination resorts or other large-scale developments.
Each legislative session, bills are introduced to provide for more full-service licenses, but
those bills do not comprehensively address the issue.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Alcohol and Gaming Division staff should be consulted for information regarding the technical
issues surrounding transfers.
Section 60-6A-18 places a limitation on the number of full-service licenses that may be issued in
each local option district to one per each two thousand population. However, Section 60-6B-12
allows full-services licenses that were issued prior to July 1, 1981, to transfer to any location
within the state without regard to the limitations on the maximum number of licenses provided in
60-6A-18 provided that the transfer of location does not lower the number of licenses below the
number allowed by law and if the local governing body approves the transfer and if all
department regulations for the transfer are met.
DUPLICATION,
HJM 79
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
An interim committee to study liquor licensing issues would not be created.
CS/mt