The House of Representatives passed HB 4573 this week.  As introduced, it would prorate liquor license fees for first-year licensees that are granted a license for less than a full year (prorated quarterly).  During a committee hearing last week, there was a substitute adopted and passed out of committeechanging the bill to make it an annual renewal of liquor licenses (instead of all happening at the same time each year), whether bought or transferred instead of a proration.  On the House floor last week, the bill was amended back to its original intent with a slight change of a quarterly proration if the business will have the license for less than 9 months out of the year (instead of a full year as originally introduced). The bill passed with bipartisan support and now moves onto the Senate.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues. She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.