Let’s remember when the law creating the Washington Liquor Control Board was signed, on this day in 1934 (January 23)
The Washington State Liquor Control Board (now the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board) was created 85 years ago today, when Governor Clarence Martin signed the Steele Act. It was created in response to the end of prohibition.
As HistoryLink tells it:
In addition to establishing the Washington State Liquor Board, the Steele Act also prohibited businesses from displaying signs or advertising using the words “bar,” “barroom,” or “saloon.” It gave cities and counties (for areas outside city limits) the local option to permit or prohibit public consumption of alcohol — in other words, to remain dry despite the national and state repeal of Prohibition.
The Steele Act was named for Thurston County Democratic Senator Earl N. Steele (1881–1968), and drafted mainly by former University of Washington law school dean Alfred Schweppe (1895–1988). It was a response to the widespread uncontrolled sale of alcohol that followed the repeal of Prohibition.
What else?
Under the board’s earliest regulations, taverns could sell beer (and later wine) by the glass. Hard liquor was not permitted to be consumed in public. The board was empowered to license grocery stores to sell packaged wine and beer, but hard liquor could be sold only through state-owned liquor stores. This purposely created a monopoly, with profits to be divided between the state’s general fund and Washington’s 39 counties.
The Steele Act empowered the Liquor Control Board to make regulations it deemed advisable. Those regulations carried the same weight as law. Until this power was overruled by the state supreme court in 1965, the rulings of the Liquor Control Board were not subject to executive or judicial review.
To read the whole thing:
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