Alaska Senate OKs bill for fair liquor license

JUNEAU, Alaska – The Alaska Senate has passed legislation intended to allow the Alaska State Fair to continue selling alcohol.

The bill, which passed 19-0 Monday, creates several new liquor license types, including a fair license. Soldotna Sen. Peter Micciche (mih-CHIK-ee) says the bill is in response to a more stringent reading of state law by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The board’s actions followed audits that found the board approved recreational site licenses that didn’t strictly meet the definition for such licenses.

The measure also would explicitly allow skiing and snowboarding under the definition of recreational sites, which Micciche said had been traditionally permissible previously.

Micciche sponsored the bill and characterized it as friendly to small businesses.

The bill next goes to the House.