Proponents see expanding the licenses as a way to revitalize downtowns and give residents more options for dining and entertainment. But critics warn that the bill linking liquor licenses to entertainment could unleash costly problems related to alcohol abuse.

The Legislature took testimony Tuesday morning on both draft bills during a hearing in the Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee. The committee will review both bills and decide whether to combine them on Thursday.

Jackson is among towns seeing a high demand for a limited number of liquor licenses. When the Town Council awarded three liquor licenses in August 2021 — including one to Movieworks — there were 22 applicants for the two retail and one bar and grill license. A few businesses applied for both, presumably to better their chances of being awarded one or the other.

Movieworks won a highly coveted retail liquor license largely because town councilors noted how important the movie theater was to the community.

But there’s fierce competition for the limited supply of retail liquor licenses, which are more flexible than the bar and grill licenses typically given to restaurants.

In Cheyenne, for example, April Brimmer Kunz and her son, JB Kunz, operate Ace’s Range, which will offer indoor golf and shooting simulations. Alcohol sales would make the business more viable, April Brimmer Kunz said, but the venue hasn’t been able to secure a liquor license.

The family testified Tuesday in favor of Senate File 12, which would create a new class of liquor licenses called a tavern and entertainment liquor license. Similar to the bar and grill license it would require a majority of income be derived from something other than alcohol sales. Bar and grill licenses require that 60% of income flow from food sales. The new class of licenses would follow a similar formula, requiring that 60% of revenue come from entertainment.

“We, along with nine other people, were competing for one license,” April Brimmer Kunz testified Tuesday. “The license eventually went to a group down on 15th Street, where we’re located, because council wanted to deal with a blighted area.”

Brimmer Kunz urged lawmakers to support entrepreneurs through the new licenses. She also said senators could put limits on the licenses, if needed, to avoid unintended loopholes.

Mike Moser, executive director of the Wyoming State Liquor Association, opposed the new class of licenses, arguing that it could saturate the market.

“This would open up liquor licenses to basically anybody with decent credit and creativity,” Moser testified Tuesday.

“These are not hardware stores,” he said. “People die from our product, from the abuse of our product, whether it’s driving, whether it’s drinking too much.”

Under current licenses, Moser said, liquor license holders can lose their license if they don’t serve alcohol in a “responsible fashion.”

Law enforcement and substance abuse experts didn’t object to the new license Tuesday but stressed that alcohol consumption can drive arrests and having food alongside alcohol can avoid problems that arise when people drink on an empty stomach.

Senators also discussed Senate File 3, which would give local government more control over setting prices for retail liquor licenses in an effort to deter a secondary market for those licenses. But lawmakers first need to amend the bill to reflect that intent.