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State affairs panel adopts Idaho State Police alcohol-control rules after questions on 'resort city' 60% food threshold
Summary
The Idaho House State Affairs Committee adopted Idaho State Police temporary and pending Alcohol Beverage Control rules after the agency said a new "resort city" statute requires a 60% food threshold and after members asked staff to rewrite confusing language and remove proposed staffing ratios for arenas.
The Idaho House State Affairs Committee adopted temporary and pending rule dockets from the Idaho State Police (ISP) that update Alcohol Beverage Control procedures and definitions, after agency staff said recent statutes changed how "resort city" liquor licenses are measured and after legislators questioned proposed staffing ratios for large venues.
Lieutenant Colonel Russ Wheatley, the Idaho State Police rules officer, told the committee he presented temporary rules to allow ISP to continue licensing activity after the rules did not receive a hearing in the prior legislative session. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Russ Wheatley and I serve as the Idaho State Police Rules Officer," Wheatley said when he introduced the docket and said the temporary rules were intended to remove burdensome language and clarify definitions and structure for licensees. He said the pending rules are the product of negotiated rulemaking and an effort to reorganize and clarify the agency's chapters.
Committee members zeroed in on language about "resort city" liquor licenses. Representative Crane asked why the proposed language on one section appeared to refer to both 40% and 60% thresholds for food relative to alcohol sales. ISP staff asked to bring up Bureau Chief Gripton (recorded as the official explaining the statutory change) to explain. Gripton told the committee that the statute governing "resort city" licenses requires 60% food over alcohol, while traditional restaurant licenses have historically used a 40% food-over-alcohol standard. Committee members said the wording in the rule was confusing. "If the committee that oversees this is slightly confused in reading 40% or 60%… I'm gonna suggest that you guys get this rewritten to where it's very easy for people to understand," a legislator told agency staff during the discussion.
Law enforcement staff also described the pending rule package as resulting from negotiated rulemaking meetings held July 24, 2024 and September 18, 2024 that included industry participants and counsel. For multipurpose arena licensing, Wheatley said proposed language included recommended staff-to-security ratios aimed at public-safety oversight; a legislator objected that staffing ratios are not statutory and said "if it's not in the law, don't be trying to grab more real estate and saying we're going to do staffing ratios." ISP acknowledged the concern and said they would revisit that language in the next rule cycle.
The committee voted to adopt the temporary and pending dockets presented by ISP. The motions to adopt the docket(s) were made on the record and the committee voice votes were recorded as "the ayes have it," with the dockets adopted.
What happened next: the committee moved on to other agency rule dockets after the votes. Agency staff and several committee members asked that ISP revise the confusing resort‑city wording before the next rule filing.
Votes at a glance: The committee adopted the ISP Alcohol Beverage Control temporary rule docket and the pending rule docket presented during the session; the motion calls and voice votes are recorded in the committee transcript and were carried by voice vote.
(Reporting note: quotes and attributions are drawn from the committee transcript.)
