Bar-owning senator pitches law allowing more young adult patrons

IOWA CITY — A bill in the Iowa Senate that would override local ordinances keeping 19- and 20-year-olds out of bars could impact tavern owners across the state by increasing the number of potential customers.

One of the two senators who drafted the bipartisan Senate File 208, Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City, is one of those bar owners.

A commercial developer by trade, Bertrand has built Sioux City bars McCarthy and Bailey's Irish Pub, Pearl's Wine & Booze and Blue Ribbon Tap. He is president of JAR Imports, which distributes Argentine wine in Iowa.

According to the state's Alcoholic Beverages Division, Bertrand holds liquor licenses for McCarthy and Bailey's Irish Pub and Blue Ribbon Tap until they are up for renewal in May.

When asked of his businesses and the bill, Bertrand said the focus is on safety of young adults — that banning 19- and 20-year-olds from bars sends them to unsupervised house parties.

'There's nothing for me to personally gain by this,' Bertrand said.

Sioux City's municipal code does not allow those younger than 21 in a bar — defined as a business that makes more than 50 percent of its gross income from alcohol sales — at any time unless they are an employee or accompanied by a parent or guardian. As with Iowa City's 21 ordinance, if the bill passes Sioux City's ordinance would be abolished.

'I do not know whether there is a conflict of interest. I think it's an open question what the motivation behind the legislation might be,' Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek said Friday in an email.

Despite his long-standing involvement in the hospitality industry, Bertrand's sponsorship of Senate File 208, co-sponsored by Sen. Wally Horn, D-Cedar Rapids, doesn't necessarily create a conflict of interest.

According to the Senate's code of ethics, a senator will sometimes have to vote on bills that could impact that member's employment or other monetary interests.

If a conflict complaint is made, the Senate Ethics Committee — chaired by Horn — would discuss it.

Tim Hagle, a University of Iowa political science associate professor, said you have to look at a proposal like Bertrand's legally and politically.

Legally, the bill doesn't appear to be problematic because it focuses statewide and doesn't single out only Bertrand's bars.

'We have a part-time Legislature, so these folks have jobs. Now that said that doesn't mean the legislators get free rein and can load up things that are going to specifically benefit their businesses,' Hagle said.

How such a bill plays out in the political realm is another story, Hagle said.

'If you have a community, whether Sioux City or (Iowa City), that has voted something like (the 21 ordinance) in, then the community may feel like it's legal to do that but we don't like it politically,' Hagle said.

While the bill has drawn the attention of Iowa City residents, Bertrand admitted he doesn't expect the proposal to gain much traction.

'Truthfully I don't think it's going to go anywhere, and I don't think myself or Sen. Horn believed it would, but I think what it's doing is exactly what we wanted, which was start the discussion around these college towns,' Bertrand said.