Wedding Barn Owners are Back

Soon after a Trempealeau County Judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by wedding barn owners that would have removed the regulatory provisions on wedding venues included in 2023 Act 73 last month, the wedding barn industry introduced a bill in the state legislature that attempts to do the same thing.

The bill was made public right before Christmas and would effectively negate the regulatory provisions included in Act 73 for these venues.  The Act 73 provisions worked to level the playing field between these wedding barn type venues and existing taverns that are, as you know, licensed and heavily regulated.

The Act 73 regulatory framework provided options for wedding barns to become compliant.  Effectively, it required venue operators to get an alcohol license from their municipality and provide a pathway to do it.   It also created a new option to obtain a limited “No-Sale Event Venue” permit that enables wedding barns to rent their space and allows guests to serve beer and wine, but not more than 6 days per year and 1 day per month.

The No-Sale Event Venue permit option in Act 73 is the provision the wedding barn owners are trying to eliminate.  Their bill would expand the number of days they could rent the venue from 6 to 36 days per year, allow spirits to be served in addition to beer and wine and, get this, includes a provision that protects themselves from local zoning and building code requirements.  In effect, they want to be able to operate just like an existing licensed tavern or licensed event venue, but under their own set of rules which are more lenient and actually put the public at risk.  How is that fair?

In Act 73 the TLW worked in good faith to find a reasonable path forward for wedding barn type venues and we thought we had done that.   We believe most legislators understand and agree, but it is frustrating to have to make these same arguments over and over.   Regardless, we will work to ensure legislators understand the bill's goal and ensure it does not pass.

Again, the bill has yet to be officially introduced and does not yet have a number.   We may be reaching out to you again when that happens so you can contact your state representative and state senator to let them know of your concerns.   In the meantime, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to HWZ with an email or a call.