The Alaska Legislature has voted to allow teenagers as young as 18 to serve alcohol in the state.
The Alaska House of Representatives voted 32-8 on April 2 to pass Senate Bill 15, which lowers the minimum alcohol-serving age in restaurants, breweries, wineries, distilleries, resorts and similar businesses. The minimum age to serve alcohol at a bar or sell it at a package store remains 21.
A separate provision of the bill requires alcohol-serving businesses to post a sign stating that alcohol causes cancer.
The House’s vote follows a 19-0 vote by the Alaska Senate in February.
The Senate on April 4 concurred with the House changes to the bill, sending the measure to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for signature into law or a veto.
SB 15 is almost identical to House Bill 189, which passed the Legislature last year. HB 189 was one of five bills vetoed by Dunleavy because they were passed by the House after the legal end of the regular session.
Speaking before the House vote on April 2, Anchorage Rep. Zach Fields said the bill will help employers hire for Alaska’s busy summer tourist season.
Anchorage Rep. Alyse Galvin spoke in favor of the bill. She worked as a waitress while growing up in Anchorage, and as a teenager, she earned half of what her older coworkers did because she couldn’t serve alcohol, she said.
Anchorage Rep. Andrew Gray has advocated the cancer-warning section of the bill for three years and spoke in support of that segment. “This bill is not telling anyone what they should or shouldn’t do. It’s simply informing Alaskans about a medical fact long established, the simple way to lower your risk of cancer is to choose not to drink alcohol,” he said.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
Reader Comments(0)