The Need for Clarity
WELCOME
Letter from the Chairman
BY PAUL THOMAS | CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
The Need for Clarity
The rewrite of Title 4 has brought not only new opportunities but also significant challenges to our industry . One example is the recent emergence of local governing bodies applying for additional unnecessary Restaurant Eating Place Licenses ( REPL ), which is a pressing
“ issue that threatens the livelihoods of many of our members . I am deeply concerned about the lack of progress in opening a regulation project following the June 25 Alcohol Beverage Control ( ABC ) Board meeting . This is a WHEN ALLOWED TO matter that requires urgent attention .
FUNCTION AS
At this point , opening regulation projects with the newly adopted Title 04
INTENDED ,
language should be far easier than it THE REGULATION seems to be . During the last meeting , it was requested multiple times that PROCESS PROVIDES the ABC Board open a regulation
THE NECESSARY project on AS 04.11.405 . Petition for additional restaurant or eating UNDERSTANDING , place licenses for certain local governing bodies . Yet , no consideration CLARIFICATION , AND or discussion of a regulation project GUIDELINES happened by the close of the rushed meeting . This leaves many testifying on requests with more questions and high anxiety over what is yet to come . Rather than answers and confidence in the regulation process , which is so important that the ABC Board be reinforcing right now . This is far from being the only piece of legislation the board will have to use the regulation process to refine in the future , and to be fair they have effectively used it many times in the past and present . My concern comes from the seeming lack of interest in opening a project when there are so many concerns , ques-
tions , and differing viewpoints from the public about the process and even within the board itself . After all , the whole purpose of a regulation project is further discussion and adding clarity to a statute so that all understand why and how it will be applied now and in the future . With many new sections of Title 04 , this is imperative and needs to happen in a timely manner to minimize the risk of getting too far down a path before having considered all the ramifications given the many different areas and nuances the board will have to consider . AS 04.11.405 , I believe , is one of these statutes . This was a section added to the Title 04 rewrite towards the very end with the proverbial promise we will fix / define this in regulation .
We are now in the position of having a statute being acted on with no guardrails if it were . I mean , does anyone think that any municipality should be able to request a 333 % increase in REPL licenses above the normal population cap based on the same numbers as REPL licenses available AS 04.09.360 ? Doing this while there are licenses available for sale in the community and licenses issued but not being operated in the community ? A lot of this doesn ’ t make sense , yet that is what is happening right now , as the regulation discussion has not been allowed to happen before rulings are . We have seen how devastating and difficult it is to roll back decisions made by past boards and then found to be outside the intent of legislation .
When allowed to function as intended , the regulation process provides the necessary understanding , clarification , and guidelines . It has proven to be effective . However , decisions made before the process , especially when licenses are granted , can create obstacles to fairness and consistent application by the Board in the future . I urge us to fully embrace the discussions a regulation project provides , as they can prevent the need for more difficult discussions on rectifying past decisions .
ALASKA CHARR MAGAZINE | 2