BILL NUMBER: AB 1019 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beall
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Section 23335 to the Business and Professions Code,
and to add Division 121 (commencing with Section 151150) to the
Health and Safety Code, relating to taxation, to take effect
immediately, tax levy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1019, as introduced, Beall. Alcoholic beverages: surcharge.
Existing law establishes various health services programs
administered by, among other state agencies, the State Department of
Health Care Services.
This bill would require, wholesalers located within the state who
distribute alcoholic beverages to retailers for consumption in the
state, to pay a $0.10 per drink surcharge, based upon a specified
formula, and would require the State Board of Equalization to
administer and collect this surcharge. The bill would establish the
Alcohol-Related Services Fund, to be administered by the State
Department of Health Care Services, into which moneys from the
imposition of the surcharge would be deposited and would, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, require those moneys to be used by
the State Department of Health Care Services for specified programs,
including programs to prevent the use and abuse of alcoholic
beverages and other drugs. This bill would make findings regarding
the impact of alcoholic beverage use upon the state.
This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose
of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of
Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require
for passage the approval of 2/3 of the membership of each house of
the Legislature.
This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Alcohol use drains California of approximately thirteen
billion six hundred million dollars ($13,600,000,000) annually in
increased health care costs, higher crime rates, lost productivity,
environmental damage, and injuries from alcohol-related accidents and
abuse.
(b) Alcohol-related accidents are the leading cause of death among
teenagers and the cause of many permanently disabling injuries.
(c) There is a strong correlation between alcohol and other drug
use.
(d) Meeting the need and demand for alcohol and other drug
treatment and recovery programs is an increasingly expensive burden
on all California taxpayers.
(e) The use of alcohol and other drugs is a major cause of
hospital emergency room and trauma care treatment, and therefore
greatly contributes to the need for emergency medical
air-transportation services.
(f) The use of alcohol and other drugs is closely associated with
mental illness and contributes enormously to the cost of treating the
mentally ill.
(g) The use of alcohol and other drugs is a major factor in the
majority of child and spousal abuse cases, and is frequently
associated with the abuse of the elderly, mentally ill, and mentally
retarded residents of long-term care facilities.
(h) Alcohol use during pregnancy causes approximately 5,000
children to be born in California each year with alcohol-related
birth defects; and other drug use during pregnancy, especially
cocaine, affects thousands of babies born each year.
(i) Drinking and driving, and driving under the influence of other
drugs, is the major cause of traffic accidents and fatalities in
California each year.
(j) Alcohol and other drug-related crimes are an increasing burden
to law enforcement and the criminal justice system in California.
(k) While the staggering cost of alcohol abuse is borne by all
Californians, 67 percent of the alcohol sold in California is
consumed by only 11 percent of the population.
(l) An additional levy on alcoholic beverages equivalent to ten
cents ($0.10) per drink is a fair and appropriate way to reduce
alcohol's staggering burden on all of California's citizens.
SEC. 2. Section 23335 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
23335. (a) A ten-cent ($0.10) per drink surcharge is hereby
imposed on all wholesalers located within the state who distribute
alcoholic beverages to retailers for consumption in the state. The
surcharge shall be based on 1.50 ounces of distilled spirits, 12
ounces of beer, and 5 ounces of wine.
(b) All funds paid pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be deposited
in the Alcohol-Related Services Fund established pursuant to Division
121 (commencing with Section 151150) of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) (1) The State Board of Equalization shall administer and
collect the surcharge discribed in subdivision (a).
(2) The State Board of Equalization shall be reimbursed for costs
associated with implementing this section pursuant to Section 1901 of
the Health and Safety Code.
(3) The State Board of Equalization may implement this section in
a manner consistent with its current operations, to the extent
possible, to allow for administrative efficiency, and may assess and
collect surcharges, to the extent authorized in this section, at the
same time and in the same or similar manner as provided for in the
assessment and collection of taxes under the Alcoholic Beverage Tax
Law (Part 14 (commencing with Section 32001) of Division 2 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code).
(d) Surcharges paid pursuant to this section shall be used solely
to implement this section and Division 121 (commencing with Section
151150) of the Health and Safety Code.
SEC. 3. Division 121 (commencing with Section 151150) is added to
the Health and Safety Code, to read:
DIVISION 121. Alcohol-Related Services Fund
151150. (a) There is hereby established in the State Treasury the
Alcohol-Related Services (ARS) Fund.
(b) Except for reimbursement of the State Board of Equalization
for expenses incured in the administration and collection of the
surcharge imposed by Section 23335 of the Business and Professions
Code, less refunds, shall be deposited in the Alcohol-Related
Services (ARS) Fund.
151151. Moneys in the fund shall, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, be used by the State Department of Health Care Services
to fund the following:
(a) Programs to prevent the use and abuse of alcoholic beverages
and other drugs.
(b) Treatment and recovery services for alcohol and other drug
addictions.
(c) A coordinated statewide program that provides training
assistance, public policy assistance, and public awareness campaigns
to prevent the use and abuse of alcoholic beverages and other drugs.
The public awareness campaigns shall focus on informing the public,
specifically children and young adults, of the potential health risks
of alcohol and other drug use.
(d) Capital expenditures for housing, treatment and recovery
facilities, domestic violence shelters, and homeless and low-income
facilities for persons recovering from alcohol- and other
drug-related problems.
(e) Emergency medical and trauma care treatment services that are
directly related to alcohol use, including emergency, medical, and
trauma care services, up to the time the patient is stabilized,
provided by physicians in general acute care hospitals that provide
basic or comprehensive emergency services.
(f) Prevention, treatment, screening, and care regarding the
health needs of infants, children, and women due to perinatal alcohol
and other drug use.
(g) Programs to increase and improve the enforcement of laws
prohibiting driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or
any other drug, or the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage
and any other drug, and related criminal justice and penal system
costs and services.
(h) Programs to increase and improve the enforcement of alcohol-
and other drug-related laws, and related criminal justice and penal
system costs and services.
SEC. 4. This act provides for a tax levy within the meaning of
Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect.