OHIO Lawmaker wants to amend tailgate bill

The law would essentially apply only to YSU if the change is made.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A proposal pending before the Ohio Legislature that would permit public universities and professional sports teams to designate areas on their premises for tailgating is being altered.
State Rep. Kenneth Carano, an Austintown Democrat, said recently he will seek to alter his bill to limit it to state universities with enrollments of up to 15,000 full-time students.
That would limit the proposal to Youngstown State University, Wright State University near Dayton and Shawnee State University in southern Ohio, Carano said.
Of those, only YSU has an intercollegiate football team, Carano said.
Reason for change
Carano said he will pursue the changes because of concerns raised by other universities, including Ohio State University, and Republican Gov. Bob Taft that the version of the bill which passed the House earlier this year and remains pending in the Senate might conflict with work at colleges and universities to reduce high-risk drinking and underage liquor consumption.
Universities such as OSU have also complained that the bill, if enacted, might pose a drain on public-safety forces to police the tailgates and impose additional costs on universities for such things as fencing, signs and other equipment related to tailgates.
Under Carano's bill, an "F-7" liquor permit would be established to allow the consumption of open containers of alcohol on restricted areas of university or private property.
The restricted area must be enclosed by a fence or some other barrier, and security personnel must watch over the entrance to ensure that people don't leave the area with open containers of alcohol.
No alcohol sales
The bill does not propose to permit the sale of alcohol on the premises, and universities would not be mandated to apply for the permits, Carano has said.
Carano has said he introduced the bill after press reports last fall that Ohio bans open containers of alcohol on public parking lots.
Lawmakers are on summer recess. Carano says he'll pursue amending his bill with the proposed changes when lawmakers return this fall.