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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Latest on a bill removing a requirement that restaurants hide the preparation of alcoholic drinks (all times local):
4:20 p.m.
A proposal allowing Utah restaurants to prepare alcoholic drinks in full view of customers is headed to Gov. Gary Herbert, who is expected to sign the measure.
Utah's House voted 53-17 to approve final changes to the measure Wednesday afternoon, minutes after the state Senate signed off on the measure.
The proposal would allow restaurants to stop using barriers, often a glass wall or back room, if they instead set up a child-free buffer zone around their bar. The zone would either be a 10 foot open area or a 5 foot area marked off by a structure such as a half-wall or railing.
The barriers, nicknamed "Zion Curtains" as a reference to the teetotaling members Mormon church, have been around in some form for a decade.
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3:25 p.m.
The Utah Senate has approved a bill that would allow restaurants to prepare alcoholic drinks in full view of customers.
The proposal passed Wednesday afternoon would allow restaurants to stop using barriers, often a glass wall or back room, if they instead set up a child-free buffer zone around their bar.
The barriers, nicknamed "Zion Curtain" as a reference to the teetotaling members Mormon church, have been around in some form for a decade and are currently required for restaurants generally built after 2009. It's a compromise from the state's last major relaxing of liquor laws.
Senators voted 20-9 to approve the measure, with a bipartisan mix of lawmakers supporting and opposing. The proposal now returns to the House of Representatives, where members must approve some small changes.
Republican Gov. Gary Herbert says he supports the bill.
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