SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – More liquor licenses for more Utah restaurants.
This is the bottom line of a major bill unveiled on Utah's Capitol Hill Wednesday.
In May, the Longhorn Steak chain made it clear they wanted to open
up some restaurants in Utah. But there weren't enough liquor licenses for them
to corral. A Longhorn representative even testified before legislators trying to
get more.
Well, apparently, State Senator John Valentine was listening.
Wednesday, Valentine told ABC 4 News,
"One of the ways we can solve the problem is to create a master license that would allow restaurants to have multiple sub-licenses if they are all under the same ownership."
Under Valentine's new bill, a chain like Longhorn could get one liquor license for all of its Utah restaurants. This would also free up other liquor licenses for local restaurateurs.
As Valentine explained to us,
"I am looking at this as economic issues for the state of Utah. Can we do a proper balance between the public safety side and the hospitality?"
Capitol Hill sources tell ABC 4 that major stakeholders like the LDS Church and MADD have not yet weighed in on the bill. But, says Valentine, the governor's office likes it.
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