Senate OKs revised alcohol bill
"This relaxes our standards for mixed drinks," said the sponsor of SB211, Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, while still reducing the total amount of alcohol available in a cocktail.
The bill has received the most attention for identifying flavored malt beverages as liquor, which would require them to be removed from supermarket and convenience store shelves and sold only in state liquor stores.
But after some arm-twisting by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. about the need to loosen Utah's liquor laws, the bill was changed to reduce the alcohol content of mixed drinks from the current 1 ounce plus up to 1.75 ounces of additional alcohol as flavorings.
An earlier version limited the total alcohol content of a single drink to 1.5 ounces and eliminated "side cars" — an extra ounce of liquor served on the side so it can be mixed into a drink to make it stronger.
The new version, though, allows up to an ounce of another, different liquor to be served alongside a mixed drink. For example, Bramble said, a customer could order a rum and Coke and an ounce of another liquor other than rum.
Bramble said the new provision only applies to private clubs and airport lounges, not restaurants.
Huntsman "is comfortable with the direction this is going," the governor's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, said when asked about whether he supported the new provision.
Roskelley stopped short of saying the governor would have vetoed a separate bill relegating "alcohol-pops" to state liquor stores, even though the move is supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Opponents of selling the often sweet-tasting beverages say they are marketed to appeal to underage drinkers.
But Huntsman does believe the alcohol-pops position of the Legislature is "bad for Utah's image," Roskelley said. Still, she said, the governor is willing to accept removing them from grocery and convenience stores as long as lawmakers also make progress on updating the state's liquor laws.
"The governor made it clear he wanted to move forward, not backward, in Utah's alcohol policy," she said. "Everybody gave a little and it came out to be an okay piece of legislation."
The bill, described by Bramble as a major change in liquor laws "bringing Utah to the 21st century in the hospitality industry," now goes to the House for further action
E-mail: lisa@desnews.com
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