BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 339
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 6, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                      SB 339 (Wolk) - As Amended:  May 23, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              Governmental 
          Organization Vote:                            17 - 0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill adds cooking schools to the definition of "bona fide 
          eating places" for the purpose of allowing the school to obtain 
          an on-sale beer and wine license. In addition, this bill permits 
          alcoholic beverages to be possessed, sold or used during an 
          event held at a community center owned by a city located on 
          public school grounds, if the event is held when students are 
          not present at the facility. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Any costs associated with this legislation would be minor and 
          absorbable within the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's 
          (ABC) existing resources.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Current Law  . The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act contains 
            provisions for various types of licenses that permit licensees 
            to furnish alcoholic beverages under certain circumstances.  
            An eating establishment must be considered a "bona fide eating 
            place" to obtain a license to sell beer and wine for 
            consumption on or off the premises where sold.  Currently, a 
            cooking school that operates for the purpose of teaching its 
            students to prepare meals, and often provides students the 
            opportunity to consume the meals prepared on site, does not 
            meet the requirements for a "bona fide public eating place" 
            and thus is unable to obtain a license from the ABC to include 
            wine pairings with cooking classes.

           2)Rationale  . According to the author's office, allowing cooking 








                                                                  SB 339
                                                                  Page  2

            schools to serve beer and alcohol with prepared meals enables 
            the schools to present complete meal options, including wine 
            pairings, to students, thus enriching the learning experience. 
             

           3)Related Legislation  . AB 319 (Norby) permits the sale and 
            consumption of alcohol on all community college campuses 
            during special events that are held with the permission of the 
            governing board of the community college district. That bill 
            is currently pending in the Senate Governmental Organization 
            Committee. 

           4)Chaptering Problem  . Both SB 339 (Wolk) and AB 319 (Norby) seek 
            to amend Business and Professions Code section 25608. Unless 
            chaptering language is included in these bills, one of them 
            will be chaptered out if both bills are eventually signed by 
            the governor. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081