State Capitol ‘do-overs’ include liquor licenses, rural education incentives

    The past week was “do-over” week at the state Capitol.
    During the first couple of weeks at the General Assembly in some years, you’ll find lawmakers trying to fix problems that come as a result of bills passed in the previous year.
    In 2018, there was a fix to a 2017 bill that saved hospitals from a half-billion-dollar funding cut and likely saved a dozen rural hospitals from closing. The fix, the subject of a failed special session and that dealt with tax language accidentally omitted from the original legislation, quickly passed in the 2018 session.
    These fixes, usually developed in response to an unintended consequence, are sometimes the result of bills that spend scant time in the legislature, introduced in the last days or weeks of the session.
    The 2019 session is no different.
    Two bills are already well on their way to the governor’s desk that deal with problems that surfaced after passage of a 2018 bill that addresses how full-strength beer would be sold in Colorado, which started on Jan. 1. One of those bills applies specifically to rural Colorado.
    Senate Bill 28 is sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert of Parker and seeks to fix a licensing problem for rural businesses.
    Under the 2018 measure, some businesses had to choose whether they would hold on-premise liquor licenses, where beer could be consumed within the business, or off-premise, meaning a business that sells beer for consumption elsewhere.
    The Last Stand in Weldona, in Morgan County, has become the poster child for why Holbert’s bill is needed. Owner Richard Schiel and his daughter, Amy, run the restaurant, which also serves as the community’s only place to grab a six-pack on the way home or to Jackson Lake State Park. The off-premise beer sales account for 58 percent of their annual sales, the Schiels said recently.
    But the 2018 law would force them to choose — do they give up the off-premise sales or stop selling beer in the restaurant, the only one in Weldona?

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