(KCPW News) Governor Gary Herbert acknowledged Thursday that more needs to be done about Utah’s shortage of liquor licenses. During his monthly news conference at KUED, Herbert said the problem could be hurting business growth in the state.
“I think that there is a growing awareness that we are not lining up well with the marketplace; part of that is because we are a fast growing economy and certainly those involved in the restaurant and food business are involved in that growth,” Herbert told reporters.
Herbert said lawmakers will decide how to best handle the matter; however he does not see the need to simply create more licenses.
“I’ve used the example of Deer Valley which has multiple restaurants and multiple licenses,” Herbert said. “Maybe they should just have one license, that is all that should be required, and free up four or five others that could go back into the marketplace.”
Herbert said lawmakers would likely tackle the issue before the next legislative session in January if a special session is called to handle other matters.
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