Will New Liquor Laws Stimulate the Local Economy?
July 4th, 2009
Clubs trade in mandatory membership fees for ID scanners
by Jacob Hodgen
Just in time for the 4th of July weekend, Utah's most infamous liquor law is now gone for good. As of Wednesday, no longer are locals and tourists alike forced to pay for memberships to enter bars in Utah.
Pushed through by the popular, progressive, and soon-to-be-exported-to-China Governor Huntsman, the new legislation has been lauded by thirsty Utahns and business owners alike who are eager to reap the benefits of tourist dollars they hope to no longer lose from conventions that previously refused to come to Utah and deal with its strange, antiquated policies.
Gary Whiting is the owner of ABG's in Provo, one of the city's only two formerly private clubs. "I'm thrilled about the idea that they are upgrading the laws in Utah." Sitting next to him is Bob Smeck, who is visiting from Philadelphia and stopped by for a drink. Bob didn't realize Utah used to have the strange law, but when he was told about it, he was glad to discover it had been so recently abolished. "If I had showed up and was told I had to buy a membership just to get in, I wouldn't have bothered!" he says.
repeal of state-mandated cover fees
Wayne Buehler is a bartender at Atchafalaya located across the street. He tells me that the recession has driven their numbers down this year, but he hopes that the change in policy will help encourage people out and bring in new opportunities. "Business has improved a little bit so far, but I think it's mainly because people are curious." He says that Provo bars have not yet experienced the same flood of bar hoppers as did bigger cities to the North. "In downtown Salt Lake, people organized massive bar-crawls, but that hasn't happened here yet. So far, we've only gotten a few more people than usual."
But when times are tough, every new bit of business is a blessing.
Gary Whiting says that while he is happy with the change in policy, he anticipates it might bring with it some headaches for club owners. "When you want to run a clean establishment, you have to be able to maintain control over the environment." Now that people expect him to not carry a cover fee of any kind, "anybody can walk in," he says. For this reason and others, a few clubs are keeping their cover charges. Overall, though, the change in liquor policy is being seen as great news and a step towards bringing Utah into the modern era.
However, before you raise your glass to toast the goodness of Utah's government just yet, there are still a few alcohol-related ironies legislators have yet to address. First, though most local politicians are LDS and ostensibly don't drink at all, Utah government still takes it upon itself to run a monopoly on all liquor and wine sales. While the sale of booze in state-run liquor stores rakes in over $250 million a year for Utah, many wonder as to the ethics of condemning something as a sin and then selling it as a fundraiser. Also, the same politicians who celebrated local Tea Parties in April and promised to help curb big government are the same people who voted to approve the now mandatory scan of ID's upon entry to bars. All clients must now present their ID for scanning before they are allowed to enter the establishment or purchase anything; a digital record of their personal information and visit is then stored in the system for use by the government for a week.
No other state in the country currently has a similar law. Of course, I would never insinuate anything, but this peculiar mark of government control and surveillance seems more than just slightly beastly--don't you think? The conspiratorial possibilities on what could be done with this information in a state like Utah are endless. . .
At this point, though, most Utahns feel this breach in privacy is a small price to pay and will take what they can get!
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Reader Comments
Joe Smith
What a beautiful state, I wish I came years ago. The LDS hurts the economy. We still have drugs, crime, and prostitution and murders. Look at todays head lines. people will do what they want- law abiding will be responible- the criminal will not.
LDS are in a way criminals if they are blending church and state- isn't that written in the constitution?
