Current Utah Liquor License "Bottleneck" Reaches Crisis Proportions From the Point of View of Some Utah Restaurant Entrepreneurs

The State Legislature "deigns" to look into the problem 

In the midst of a lull in Ogden City red meat political news, we'll start out by putting the focus on a couple of strong editorials appearing in the Standard-Examiner and Salt Lake Tribune respectively, urging a "loosening" of Utah's tight, population based liquor license quotas:

• OUR VIEW: Increasing liquor licenses
• Liquor quotas - It’s time for Utah to loosen them

According to yesterday's Trib story, Governor Herbert's in basic agreement with the S-E and Trib editorial boards, although we'll observe that he's not exactly "champing at the bit" to solve the problem:

• Herbert says liquor license shortage hurting Utah business

The Utah churchislature legislature, in its infinite wisdom, is deigning to look at the problem too:

• Competing issues tangle Utah’s liquor permit bottleneck
• Legislators look to untangle Utah liquor license shortage

The current license "bottleneck" has clearly reached crisis proportions from the point of view of some Utah restaurant entreprenuers, as the Trib's Paul Rolley reports that some license applicants who've been left out in the cold have even been observed "weeping while explaining they will go out of business without a license":

• Rolly: Helper mayor’s liquor proposal is good for (his) business

Utah politicians regularly and proudly Utah as the "best managed state in the nation":

• Senate Site - Best Managed State

We'll be watching this issue closely in the days to come, to find out whether that happy little meme actually proves true in this instance.

So what about it O Gentle Ones?  Should our Utah governor and legislature address this problem immediately by calling a special legislative session?  Or should government officials leave distraught liquor license applicants hanging until the next Utah legislative session convenes in January of 2013? Should our right-wing, "pro business" legislature abandon Utah's population-tied quota concept altogether?

Update 5/25/12 10:07 a.m.:  Grondahl nails it!