A task force appointed by Gov. C. L. "Butch" Otter to review Idaho's liquor laws does not plan to propose any legislation - including cutting the state's quota system - during the 2008 legislative session and instead will likely wait a year, officials said.

The decision, announced Monday, marks a change from several weeks ago whenstate officials and task force members, including Bob Wells, an Otter adviser leading the committee, indicated that a proposal to change some liquor laws would be prepared for the 2008 legislative session.

Since February, the task force has studied, in private, Idaho's Alcohol Beverage Control laws, many of which are decades old. There is at least one draft - about 250 pages - of their efforts that includes abolition of the quota system and delegation of licensing authority to counties and cities.

"What we're doing is rewriting the entire code to make it easier for someone to do business in relation to liquor-by-the-drink," Wells said at the time. "Why should an agency in Boise be dictating to Twin Falls or anywhere else how many bars they can have?"

But the task force, which now includes at least 16 members, is still collecting information, has not made a formal recommendation to Otter and will likely wait a year before drafting legislation, said Jon Hanian, Otter's spokesman.

"We're not doing all this work for nothing," said Hanian. "As the governor says he wants to be data driven, we've got to make sure we have all the data before we can do any driving."

Liquor licenses in Idaho are awarded by the state on a per-capita basis: one license for every 1,500 in population in a city. It's common knowledge in Idaho that licenses can be sold or leased for an unlimited amount, and have led to people spending hundreds of thousands.

The task force raised the concern of liquor license owners and caused about two dozen of them to form the Idaho Beverage Coalition. A phone call to its lead organizer, Denise Rogers, a former executive director of the Idaho Licensed Beverage Association, was not returned Wednesday.

State House Minority Caucus Chair John Rusche, D-Lewiston, who sits on the task force, told the Times-News several weeks ago that he expected something to be presented to the House State Affairs Committee next year.

"What I suspect will happen is, relatively soon, the governor and the staff will come forward with the proposal and will present it...," he said. "I expect there will be something this year. I think there's an opportunity for a couple areas of contention and one of them might be how the licenses are done."

Otter officials have said the changes would spur economic development and tourism. Restaurants make more money when they sell liquor, and officials said the change will make Idaho more attractive to chains.

The process, however, might need more time, given its sensitive subject, said Hanian.

"I don't know if we can say there are no plans," Hanian said. "At this point we still have a lot of work to do before we can talk about legislation. I think the governor has been very clear: It doesn't matter what the issue is. We're not going to rush it. We want to make sure we get it right."

Jared S. Hopkins can be reached at jhopkins@magicvalley.com or 735-3204.