Stateways

StateWays - July/August 2017

StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions

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StateWays | www.stateways.com | July/August 2017 14 from existing laws. One legislative session resulted in eliminating liquor licensee's business hours of operation from state statutes entirely, passing that responsibility along to local licensing boards. Another bill removed the rule requiring a licensed establishment to have a designated dis- pensing room, and will now instead li- cense buildings and locations as a whole. Additional outdated language included in the old legislation posed multiple chal- lenges to bar owners and developers. It restricted the sale of alcohol to only des- ignated rooms within a building. Also, it included language that technically made it illegal for people to order alcoholic drinks using a tablet system outside the designated room, which is becoming more popular in restaurants and bars. All of these laws, some of which had existed in Wyoming since the end of Prohibition, have been retooled to better fi t the reali- ties of the state's modern environments. "We'd been trying to apply a 2017 business model to legislation that was created back in 1935," Montoya explains. "Agents on routine inspections would fi nd licensees to be in violation of things because they technically didn't meet the qualifi cations of the old language." Together with the WSLA, the Divi- sion coordinated extensive meetings to discuss and develop proposed legislation. A total of fourteen town hall meetings were held across the state to explain the new laws to licensing authorities, retailers and community members, and get feedback and answer questions. Ad- ditional outreach through newsletters, phone calls and site visits to educate people about the new legislation is also planned. Overwhelmingly, the response to the new legislation has been ex- tremely positive. Montoya stresses that the educational outreach about the new laws will be ongoing, as is the Division's commitment to keep existing statutes updated and balanced. agency agency profile WYOMING PROFILE Jason Allen, Tom Montoya, Dan Noble, Mike Moser, Greg Cook and Kelly Hunt.

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