Montana DOR briefs Business and Labor committee on alcohol licensing, warehouse expansion and emerging THC beverages

HELENA — Officials from the Montana Department of Revenue’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Division (ABCD) told the Legislative Business and Labor Committee that the state operates a control-model wholesale for liquor, is expanding its warehouse after two recent legislative funding allocations and is monitoring new intoxicating products such as THC beverages.

The briefing, delivered by Deputy Director Scott Mendenhall and ABCD Administrator Becky Schlauch, summarized how Montana’s control-state system works, licensing categories and quotas, recent sales and transfers to the general fund, enforcement tools and limits, and outreach efforts including training and scholarships for students.

“[T]his resource, the biennial report, can be found at mtrevenue.gov,” Scott Mendenhall said, introducing the ABCD handout the department provided to committee members. Becky Schlauch explained the control-state model and the agency’s duties, saying the ABCD acts as Montana’s wholesaler and has licensing, distribution and outreach functions.

Schlauch told senators that Montana is one of the nation’s control or monopoly states, a structure set after repeal of Prohibition and reflected in the Montana Liquor Control Act and subsequent law. She described license types ABCD issues — on-premise, off-premise, manufacturers (breweries, distilleries, wineries), wholesalers and special permits — and noted ABCD currently issues more than 5,200 licenses. She also explained population-based quota areas (city and county quota rules dating to the 1947 quota system) and the department’s competitive-bid…