BATON ROUGE - East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome signed an executive order Monday that will prevent bars from losing their liquor licenses if they can't pay local taxes during the coronavirus crisis.

The order signed Monday will temporarily suspend the city-parish's ordinance governing the suspension or revocation of licenses and permits for bars due to non-payment of local taxes.

“We are taking action to give those businesses whose primary revenue source is from the sale of alcohol, and that are closed during this time, the ability and time to recover without the risk of having their license revoked,” Mayor Broome said. “Protecting our economy is a primary concern as we evaluate the long-term impacts of the coronavirus on local and small businesses.”

The order will suspend the ordinance for the remainder of 2020.