Governor at convention
By Paul Vang
Montana Tavern Times
Montana's second-term Governor, Brian Schweitzer, made a visit to the 2009 Montana Tavern Association convention during the trade show.
Accompanied by his faithful dog, Jag, Schweitzer made a tour of the trade show, giving handshakes (and hugs) to attendees, including a hug with the University of Montana's mascot, Monte.
Schweitzer concluded the tour with a few brief remarks. He opened by noting, “48 states are financially upside down. Two states are not, and Montana is one of them. Montana has $400 million in the bank, the state's largest surplus since statehood in 1889.”
The governor compared the state's prudent financial management to establishment owners: “We've been just like you folks; we try to squirrel away those few extra dollars every chance we get.”
He complimented Montana's bar owners for being proactive in dealing with change, particularly in light of a “new wave of ballot initiatives that neither my office nor the Legislature have much to do with!"
“I want to applaud you," he said. "There's always a wave of having a little sin, and that's usually followed by people who advocate not having a little sin. We're not going to let the pendulum swing too far in either direction.
"I give you people credit for being proactive on working out a way to achieve a smoking ban in public places before somebody started an initiative to impose a ban in some other way.”
He also credited MTA with being proactive on "cabaret" restaurant beer and wine licensure to ensure a stable licensing system which he said he has, and will, defend.
Schweitzer concluded by noting that he has kept his campaign promises from his first gubernatorial campaign to not make drastic changes in state licensing laws that would adversely affect the value of liquor licenses. He compared those licenses to ranch property.
“If you have a ranch along a river, it's worth twice as much as a ranch back in the sticks. You have real value in your licenses and as long as I'm governor we're going to protect your license investment.”