Signed into law: 8,000 Kansas City restaurant workers no longer required to obtain liquor license

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thursday, the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council voted 10-0 to pass Ordinance No. 230419.

“This is truly cutting red tape, this is truly making things easier for normal working people,” said KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas.

Signed into law Sunday, 8,000 Kansas City restaurant workers now have one less item to carry as they are no longer required to obtain a liquor license.

“In most cases, it was just a political issue and it was originally put in place to keep the organized crime out of the bar business and out of the liquor business,” said Bill Teel, executive director of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association. “From an employment standpoint for servers in Kansas City and bartenders, it’s the most hated piece of employment that they have to deal with.”

For business owners like Alan Kneeland, of The Combine, the liquor license requirement made staffing a challenge.

“Opening up in the middle of a pandemic, it was very hard to, first of all, get people to come to my door and then to have them do one, two, three steps to be able to work for me, such as getting a liquor card and paying the $42 to obtain their liquor card,” Kneeland said. “With that being scraped off the table, it makes the hiring process a whole lot easier.”

Now, Kneeland, who also serves as vice president of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association, says more people with a troubled past can find work.

“If you do have sexual assault charges, those are people that we don’t want working in our establishment,” Kneeland said. “But people that are trying to come back and they are looking for their second chance, those people should have an opportunity to work in restaurants — and not only in the back of the house with dishwashers [and] cooks, but they should also be able to have the opportunity to become a server or bartender if that’s what they would like to do.”

Kneeland says that although regulations to serve alcohol will still be in place, taking this step will make Kansas City’s workforce stronger.

“As a restaurant association, we not only fight for our owners’ membership owners but also for all the people that work in restaurants — we’re here for you,” Teel said.