MTA board hears PR, poker and national reports
Pub Date: 1/1/2006
Montana Tavern Association attorney and lobbyist Mark Staples told the board of directors Nov. 9 that the final version of the smoking ban rules were fair and followed the intent of the law.
The Montana Legislature revised its Clean Indoor Air Act during the 2005 session to ban all smoking in workplaces with exceptions for establishments licensed for liquor or gaming until 2009.
Exceptions can be granted as long as a business earns 60 percent or more of its revenue from liquor and/or gaming, as long as it prohibits those under 18 from being in smoking areas and as long as it prevents infiltration of smoke into non-smoking areas.
The rule-making process wasn't completed until after the law had taken effect Oct. 1. A draft was produced in early September and a state-wide MetNet hearing occurred Sept. 30 where objections and testimony was heard.
The final version of the rules, released Oct. 17, very closely resembled the draft with a few relatively minor modifications (see complete report on the rules on page 24 in this edition).
Staples advised directors that everyone with a license and the requisite alcohol and gaming sales, ought to apply for the exemption via a simple form that had been mailed to licensees and was due back to the Department of Revenue by mid-November. He added that, should a business decide to go non-smoking before 2009, the exemption would not preclude that.
He reminded the board that, as always, it is the revenue department that will approve structural alterations and that he has been reassured the department will move expeditiously.
One director told the group the sheriff's department personnel in his area were routinely stopping vehicles coming out of hunting areas and checking them for open containers of alcohol. Staples said that would be improper and he asked if, in fact, officers were doing a game inspection and then, "oh by the way," checking for open containers.
Public Relations Committee Chairman Sue Cazier, taking over from past chairman Dennis White, said her committee would be managing the "No Dinner/Dinner" raffle that has become an important revenue source for the association.
She also noted her committee has been the MTA liaison to the Montana Gaming Research and Education Fund and that she will serve as one of three MTA representatives to the group. As such, she asked Rich Miller to take the floor to fill the directors in on an earlier request he had made of the public relations committee.
Miller, Executive Director of the Gaming Industry Association (GIA), acting in his additional capacity as chairman of the Montana Gaming Research and Education Fund, asked the MTA board to consider approving a new direction contemplated by the education group that would shift its main focus from the study of gaming issues to researching ways to aid licensed businesses in making a successful transition to smoke-free establishments.
Miller told directors that perhaps a new strategy "surviving the smoking ban" needs to be developed to encourage licensees to now redirect the marketing and promotion of their products and services to the 80 percent of Montanans who do not smoke.
He said such a strategy could help licensed businesses, but as importantly could produce "added value" for members of licensed business associations. Further, Miller said, the level of professionalism in the industry and the public's perception of it could be enhanced.
He said the GIA and other corporate partners of the research and education group had already signed on to the concept, and that the Montana Coin Machine Operators Association would consider doing so the next day (which they subsequently did). The MTA board voted unanimously to endorse the change in direction.
Rose Bullock, chairman of the MTA Budget and Finance Committee, reported that association income and expenses were tracking well within budgeted parameters. "We're doing real well, though we are early in the budget year," she said.
Kent Frampton, chairman of the MTA insurance committee, reported his group had met and certain insurance issues discussions were ongoing with nothing concrete to report.
Sandy Jones, chairing an MTA subcommittee on revisions to live poker rules, told directors progress was being made in addressing the Gambling Control Division's concerns involving problems related to the licensing of card dealers, and that consensus regarding tournament formats, pot limits and other game updates was near.
The Gaming Advisory Council, the MTA and GIA have all formed subcommittees to work toward needed revisions to statute and rules governing live card games. The booming popularity of Texas Hold 'Em poker has caught on in Montana and is necessitating regulatory alterations.
Harry Klock, MTA representative to the national umbrella association, the American Beverage Licensees (ABL), inquired whether MTA was inclined to support the "MADD at GM" campaign which was backed by ABL.
The program is meant to highlight Mothers Against Drunk Driving's (MADD) increasingly prohibitionist policies that are a threat to licensed businesses, while spotlighting MADD's biggest contributors as being no friends of licensees. General Motors has been a past contributor of millions of dollars.
The board voted to purchase the MADD at GM literature and materials from ABL for distribution to locations that wish to conduct the campaign on their premises.
Klock also noted that the national distillers association, the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS), had withdrawn its support of ABL over ABL's willingness to more aggressively confront opponents who would harm members' businesses. DISCUS has worked closely with MADD on several projects, most notably a national .08 law.
Klock told MTA directors, "We need to take a look at who is supporting us." If a licensee can find a replacement brand for one that is a DISCUS member, an operator ought to consider doing so, he said. For example, he noted Skyy Vodka is a big supporter of ABL and should become the standard premium vodka of loyal members.
Klock also noted the ABL convention occurs March 5-7 in Las Vegas, concurrent to the March 5-8 Nightclub and Bar Trade Show and is followed by a big NASCAR weekend with the Busch Series race on Saturday, March 11 and the Nextel Cup race Sunday, March 12.
"We need 20 or 30 or 50 people from Montana to attend the national ABL convention," Klock stated, urging MTA members to make plans to attend now.
MTA Executive Director Diana Koon asked the group to consider revisions to the stated travel policy, noting national directors to the ABL currently are not covered for mileage expenses to and from airports for flights to national meetings. The board approved paying the mileage at 45.5 ¢/mile.
Koon also reported on preliminary meetings with the 2006 convention host facility management at the Copper King Hotel in Butte. She said a planned expansion of an exhibition hall should suit the needs of MTA trade show well.
The MTA is zeroing in on an internet based version of the TIPS server training program and is negotiating an agreement for terms favorable to MTA members and the organization, Koon said. Program administrators certify servers through testing. She noted MTA should make the server training program available to non-members as well, perhaps for a non-discounted rate.
Director Bob Miller told the board he had worked out arrangements with a new credit card transaction service that he said would save him $1,100 a year and had an integrated ID verification capability.
He asked if MTA wanted to open discussions with the company to see if an association-wide group program could be established for MTA members. The proposal was tabled and referred to the insurance committee, which handles a number of other group purchasing programs.
Director Tom Heisler asked that a new convention protocols committee be formed to evaluate current and past convention procedures, the template "Marie's Bible" having been developed years ago by the late executive director Marie Durkee.
Heisler said particularly he thought too much control of some convention aspects had been ceded to the local host chapter, and that the trade show format needed to be reconsidered. The group then voted to add Heisler and Doris Day to the existing "time and place" committee. The committee is to meet prior to the Cascade County Tavern Association dinner Dec. 7.
Ralph Ferraro of Bozeman, immediate past president, was elected chairman of the board, and Steve Morris, also a past president, was elected vice chairman.
Brent Lytle, of Haps Bar in Helena, was announced the winner of the MTA convention trivia contest and was awarded a beautiful big-screen television. Tom Heisler took home two car show trophies for Ladies Choice and Men's Choice for his matched two-tone white and aqua 1955 Chevrolets, one a hard-top and the other a convertible. The Empty Glass Liquor Store in Helena earned the award for People's Choice for a restored panel delivery truck.
As the meeting wound up, Cazier announced the winner of a 50/50 drawing she had been conducting was Barb Morris who pocketed $470.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, Jan., 2005, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.