Legislation from State Representative Bill G. Schuette supporting a growing industry today was advanced by the Michigan House.

Small, boutique hotels are becoming increasingly popular in Michigan. However, many aspiring and current small business owners in this field are finding it difficult to open their hotels with bar areas in larger cities like Detroit or Grand Rapids due to arbitrary room and population thresholds set by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

“These hotels bring upscale and personalized hospitality to Michigan’s beautiful lakeshore, forests and urban centers,” Schuette said. “We have destination cities in Michigan. Our communities are experiencing exciting energy in tourism and economic development, and this plan will get government out of the way of innovative job creators and entrepreneurs that are driving growth in our state’s largest cities.”

Considering the size of the city, a hotel needs to have at least 50 rooms to be considered a Class A or B hotel and receive a liquor license. This significantly increases the capital required to open the business as well as the space needed to accommodate it.

Schuette’s House Bill 4700 modifies the requirements for hotels to obtain liquor licenses. The Michigan Liquor Control Code would be changed, and the room threshold for hotels to be classified as Class A or B hotels would be set at 20 rooms.

The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support and now moves to the Senate for consideration.

PHOTO INFORMATION: State Representative Bill G. Schuette speaks on House Bill 4700 on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at the state Capitol in Lansing.