Utah voters won’t decide on liquor in grocery stores this year

A state liquor initiative has been abandoned by its author, Jeff Carter, after difficulties with obtaining signatures. Photo: Unsplash // Adam Wilson

Making it easier to buy liquor in Utah — as it is in other states — will have to wait

UTAH — A citizen ballot initiative aimed at modernizing Utah liquor laws, including the availability of wine and spirits in grocery and convenience stores, has been abandoned due to difficulties in securing funding, according to Fox13 News.

Jeff Carter, the author of the “Citizens’ Initiative to Amend and Modify Title 32B,” expressed disappointment to Fox13 News but remains hopeful about future changes in the state Legislature and a more consumer-friendly approach.

The initiative proposed various reforms, such as selling state liquor stores to private businesses and reducing the markup on liquor sales.

“As I come to find out, getting it funded fully to move forward was really the most difficult. I think the religious and political dogma of the past still haunts Utah, even though things have changed for the better,” Carter told Fox 13. “Who knows? Maybe some of the things I put in my initiative will take hold with the legislature, maybe they’ll think about some of this stuff on a business perspective and more consumer-friendly.”