House Liquor Control Committee Advances Staats Bill to Free Up Old Hotel Licenses
HARRISBURG – By a unanimous vote, the House Liquor Control Committee today approved legislation, sponsored by Rep. Craig Staats (R-Bucks), which would permit owners of old hotel licenses to convert them to restaurant liquor licenses.
House Bill 1617 would give owners of hotel licenses, issued prior to 1949, a window during which they could apply to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) to convert them to restaurant licenses, a move that would give the licensees greater flexibility in the transferability of the licenses.
There are roughly 260 hotel licenses issued prior to 1949.
“Current law requires hotel licenses to remain with the property when sold,” said Staats. “By allowing them to be converted to restaurant licenses, my bill would allow the licenses to be sold separate from the real estate. House Bill 1617 would help to further modernize Pennsylvania’s liquor laws and provide for the productive use of these licenses in areas of the Commonwealth in need of economic development and growth.”
“The hotel industry has changed significantly over the past 70 years when these hotel liquor licenses were first issued,” said Rep. Jeff Pyle (R-Armstrong/Butler/Indiana), chairman of the House Liquor Control Committee. “It is now dominated by large chains and the number of locations has diminished greatly. This has resulted in licenses not being used. It only makes sense to move these licenses into the restaurant category to give customers more choices.”
House Bill 1617 now goes to the full House for consideration.
Representative Craig Staats
145th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Donna Pinkham
717.260.6452
dpinkham@pahousegop.com
RepStaats.com /
Facebook.com/RepStaats