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Federal TTB pause could delay state liquor licensing for months, LCB warns
Summary
Becky Smith told the board the federal government shutdown has paused TTB processing; because TTB approval is required by law for certain applicants, some license issuances could be delayed by months.
Licensing Director Becky Smith warned that a federal shutdown has paused application processing at the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which the agency must wait for before issuing some Washington liquor licenses. "We just can't go ahead and move forward with issuing a license without that TTB approval," she said, and noted states are discussing different approaches while remaining constrained by federal requirements.
Smith said the pause could turn a one-month wait into several months for affected applicants and the licensing unit has been fielding phone calls and coordinating with other states to explore options. She stressed that for non-vintage applicants TTB approval is required by law and the LCB cannot bypass that step.
