Our clients in the hotel industry should take note of a new law in Michigan that loosens restrictions on the sale and advertising of liquor for private functions.
Previously, the Liquor Control Commission had banned the advertising and sale of unlimited quantities of alcohol for a fixed price and 2 for 1 drink specials by an administrative rule. An administrative rule is not technically a law, but when the rule is properly processed and enacted, it has the same force and effect as law. As enacted, the administrative rule did not provide any exceptions to the ban.
Recently, however, the administrative rule was incorporated into a new law, Public Act 47 of 2015 (now incorporated in MCL 436.1014). Public Act 47 of 2015 provides an exception to the ban for vendors offering unlimited alcohol for a fixed price for private functions, such as weddings. Under the law, a private function means a prearranged private event for a specific occasion that is not open to the public and which is held in a clearly designated space used exclusively for that event. In order to qualify for the exception, the organizer must obtain a written agreement with the on-site alcohol vendor specifying the date, time and location of the event as well as the terms for the sale of alcohol.
The new regulations went into effect on June 9, 2015.
This article was written with the help of law clerk, Laura Barrera.
