BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1448|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1448
Author: Tom Berryhill (R)
Amended: 4/13/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SEN. GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE : 11-0, 7/8/09
AYES: Wright, Harman, Benoit, Calderon, Denham, Florez,
Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Price, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Wiggins
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/21/09 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Alcoholic beverage control: public
schoolhouses
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill creates an exception to the general
prohibition against the consumption of alcoholic beverages
on publicly owned school property by allowing alcoholic
beverages to be sold and consumed for an event during the
weekend or at other times when pupils are not on the rounds
of an overnight retreat facility owned and operated by the
county office of education in Stanislaus County.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the Department of
Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and grants it exclusive
CONTINUED
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authority to administer the provisions of the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Act (Act) in accordance with laws enacted
by the Legislature.
The Act generally prohibits, with specified exceptions, the
possession, consumption and sale of alcoholic beverages in
any public school (K-14) or any grounds thereof. Existing
law provides various exceptions to this general prohibition
at specified venues (e.g., performing arts centers,
stadiums, etc.).
Over the years, numerous legislative exceptions have been
granted to school districts to allow for the possession and
use of alcoholic beverages on community college school
grounds. For example:
1. AB 3071 (Assembly Governmental Organization Committee),
Chapter 508, Statutes of 2008 . Authorized the
possession, use, sale or consumption of alcoholic
beverages in connection with special events held at the
facilities of a public community college, located in Los
Angeles County or Alameda County.
2. SB 1486 (Hollingsworth), Chapter 72, Statutes of 2006 .
Authorized alcoholic beverages to be served and consumed
on the grounds of the Water Conservation Demonstration
Garden on the campus of Cuyamaca College in Rancho San
Diego.
3. SB 220 (Chesbro), Chapter 203, Statutes of 2005 .
Authorized Napa Valley College to sell wine it produces
as part of the College's instructional program in
viticulture and enology.
4. AB 767 (Mullin), Chapter 204, Statutes of 2005 .
Authorized the possession and consumption of alcoholic
beverages in residential facilities or housing offered
for rent, lease, or sale exclusively to faculty or staff
of San Mateo Community College.
5. SB 572 (Maddy), Chapter 90, Statutes of 1997 . Authorized
the possession and use of alcoholic beverages during
nonprofit fundraising events held at Memorial Stadium on
the Bakersfield College campus. "Events' does not
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include football games or other athletic contests held at
the college.
6. SB 113 (Thompson), Chapter 238, Statutes of 1993 .
Authorized the possession and use of alcoholic beverages
on public school grounds as follows: (a) at events
sponsored by Napa Community College (currently known as
Napa Valley College) which has an instructional program
on viticulture and enology, and (b) at a professional
minor league baseball game conducted at the stadium of a
community college (Butte Community College) located in a
county with a population of less than 250,000
inhabitants.
This bill:
1.Provides the prohibition relating to the possession,
consumption and sale of alcoholic beverages in any public
school (K-14) or any grounds thereof shall not apply for
an event during the weekend or at other items when pupils
are not on the grounds of an overnight retreat facility
owned and operated by a county office of education in a
county of the 105y class.
2.Contains boilerplate language (special legislation
disclaimer) justifying the need to restrict this measure
to just one county to avoid the constitutional
prohibition against special legislation (Article IV,
Section 16[b]).
Comments
The author's office indicates that this bill is intended to
help solve a problem for the Stanislaus County Office of
Education (SCOE), which operates Foothill Horizons, an
outdoor school that serves over 6,000 elementary students
each year. Foothill Horizons sits on 143 acres located at
the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains at approximately
2500'. The school has facilities that can be used for
meetings or activities including a dining hall that can
accommodate up to 250 people and dormitories that can house
up to 200 guests. The author's office states that the
program at Foothill Horizons is correlated to the
California State Science Standards and is designed to give
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students first-hand experiences in discovering the outdoor
world.
The author's office notes that Foothill Horizons is
expensive to maintain with most of the financial support
being derived from fees paid by parents, schools and the
SCOE. Due to drastic funding cuts among the local school
districts it is expected that costs for the outdoor program
will rise resulting in a correlating drop-off in student
attendees.
Current law prohibits the SCOE from serving alcohol during
a non-student activity on the schools campus. The author's
office points out that this bill is intended to help
generate much needed revenue from facility rentals and
special events (e.g., weddings, family reunions, etc.) by
allowing the SCOE to lease these facilities for a range of
corporate, civic and cultural uses which would include the
consumption and sale of alcoholic beverages during days and
weekends when Foothill is not hosting students. It is
expected that the money generated from these additional
revenue opportunities will help offset the cost of
maintaining the Outdoor Education program and keep fees
affordable for school districts and families.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/09)
Stanislaus County Office of Education
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
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Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuentes, Nava, Saldana
TSM:cm 8/18/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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