Happy hour at your local watering hole could become just another hour if a bill passed by the General Assembly is signed by Gov. James Thompson.

Specifically, the proposed amendment to the present Liquor Control Act would prohibit taverns from offering two drinks for the price of one, reducing drink prices for part of a day, increasing the amount of alcohol in a drink without a corresponding price increase, holding free-drink nights and giving away drinks as prizes.

The bill would force businesses to hold constant their drink prices for at least one month at a time, allowing fluctuations only on a monthly basis.

Rep. John Countryman, R-DeKalb, said he voted for the proposal because, “I certainly felt we needed to do things to restrain over-consumption of alcohol in the state.” Furthermore, he thought this proposal made more sense than ex-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop’s recommendation to lower the set blood-alcohol level which determines when a driver is legally drunk.

Countryman said the proposed ban would lessen but not eliminate the problems associated with over-consumption. Rationalizing the bill, he said, “Why have someone giving them (patrons) two drinks if they only wanted one? That one extra drink might be what it takes to put them over the hurdle into intoxication.”

Countryman said the infringement the ban would place on business owners “certainly was a consideration,” but added regulations are necessary when dealing with businesses that sell liquor.

Bob Daniels, owner of Otto’s tavern, does not feel his rights as a private businessman would be infringed upon by the proposed ban because already, by having a liquor license, “we’re controlled by the laws that govern the industry.”

“I think it’s great.” Daniels said he previously proposed a similar ordinance to the city of DeKalb but received no response.

DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow said he supports the state-proposed ban because it encourages responsible drinking. Sparrow said Thompson should approve the bill, which would take effect Jan. 1.

Happy hour specials, which usually last from about 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., people drink large quantities in short periods of time and then endangering themselves and others by driving, he said.

Daniels agreed the bill would be good for consumers because “nobody is doing anybody a favor by overserving them. Very few people will walk away from the bar if they have a full drink sitting there.”

Daniels said he cannot avoid offering drink specials because “if you don’t, you lose business.” The proposed bill would permit bar owners to run their businesses in a “money-saving manner” and would “make the competition more honest, more fair,” he said.

Glen Goering, owner of McCabe’s Lounge & Entertainment, is adamantly opposed to the proposed ban, labeling it “communistic price-fixing.”

“I think it is truly disgusting that the government can control my pricing,” he said. “I’m licensed already. I’m already regulated.”

Goering said he considers the proposed ban not only unfair but ineffective as a means of controlling the main problems associated with alcohol consumption.

“The law says, ‘Don’t drink and drive.’ The law never said, ‘If you’re 21, don’t drink,'” Goering said. The ban is “still not going to solve the problem.”