House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation from last session to help veterans’ organizations and other clubs whose liquor licenses are put in jeopardy through no fault of their own.

Under current law, a club may keep a license in safe-keeping for up to two years, but no extensions are available beyond that for any reason whatsoever. In my district, an American Legion lost its license because its building was destroyed by an arson fire. The arson investigation took so long that the American Legion exceeded its time period for re-building and re-activating its license. Since no additional extensions were permitted, the Legion lost its license.

To help other organizations that may find themselves in the same situation in the future, my legislation would provide additional time to clubs to rebuild when their facility is out of operation because of fire, flood, or other disaster. Clubs would be given an additional two years beyond what they have now, and they would be required to apply for the extensions on an annual basis to ensure the extension is legitimately needed. This language is similar to extensions that are provided to restaurants because of flood, fire, or other natural disaster.