Tracy Jong

What is the Cause of the Delays in State Liquor Authority Processing?

The Chairman of the State Liquor Authority opened the July 17th, 2019 Full Board meeting with an answer to this question. He recited three reasons:

  1. Increased application filings during the summer season;
  2. Loss of 2 senior licensing staff members (Jacqueline Held and Kerry O’ Brien); and
  3. A state project to redesign the Authority’s database (Predicted to take 2 years).

The Chairman asked everyone to be patient while we all endure this “short term pain.” This situation will continue for at least several more months. He also emphasized that business owners plan for these long processing times and file well in advance of planned opening for business. Poor planning and emergency hardship situations are adding further burden on staff and further delays to applicants for licenses.