Milwaukee, Wisc., bars are reportedly pushing to be allowed to remain open until 4 a.m. for the Democratic National Convention next year, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal.
Current state law requires any businesses with liquor licenses to be closed from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday and 2:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturday nights, but the Wisconsin Restaurant Association is lobbying state legislators and Gov. Tony Evers (D) to relax the statute for the July 2020 convention, according to the publication.
{mosads}Hillmer told the publication she has been in touch with state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) as well as state Senate Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) and members of Evers’ administration.
“It behooves us to do it now and not wait till next year,” WRA President and CEO Kristine Hillmer told the Milwaukee Business Journal. The amended hours would cover both Milwaukee and Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties, potentially including other counties in the southeastern part of the state, Hillmer said.
“We don’t want to give the impression that we roll up the sidewalks at midnight,” Hillmer told the publication. “We have to get our heads around the idea everything’s going to be different.”
Similar arrangements have been made for other cities hosting political conventions, according to Buddy Julius of The Firm, a Wisconsin consulting agency that represents organizations seeking to book meeting and event space.
Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, chairman of the local DNC hosting committee, told the publication that convention-goers and members of the media typically do not adjourn until around 10 or 11 p.m., which Hillmer said will likely feel more like early evening for convention-goers from the West Coast.
The WRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.