BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1425| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1425 Author: Assembly Governmental Organization Committee Amended: 9/6/13 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/11/13 AYES: Wright, Nielsen, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella, Correa, De León, Galgiani, Hernandez, Lieu, Padilla SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Alcoholic beverages SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill makes non-controversial and clarifying changes to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (ABC Act). Senate Floor Amendments of 9/6/13 delete an existing tied-house exception sunset; consolidate specified beer and wine provisions; and allow beer or wine made for personal or family use to be donated to a nonprofit organization and used at a fundraising event, as specified. ANALYSIS : Existing law: CONTINUED AB 1425 Page 2 1. Establishes the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) and grants it exclusive authority to administer the provisions of the ABC Act in accordance with laws enacted by the Legislature. This involves licensing individuals and businesses associated with the manufacture, importation and sale of alcoholic beverages in this state and the collection of license fees for this purpose. 2. Requires the Department of ABC to submit an annual report to the Legislature by March 1 on the Department's activities for the previous fiscal year. 3. Prohibits a licensed wine blender (Type 22) from holding a retail license and prohibits a retail licensee from holding a wine blender license; and specifies that this prohibition does not apply to licenses issued on or before February 2, 1968. 4. Prohibits a licensed wine blender from conducting wine tastings on or off its licensed premises; and specifies that this prohibition does not apply to wine blender licenses issued on or before February 2, 1968. 5. Separates the alcoholic beverage industry into three component parts, or tiers, of manufacturer (including breweries, wineries and distilleries), wholesaler, and retailer (both on-sale and off-sale). This is known as the "tied-house' law. 6. Establishes, until December 31, 2014, a tied-house exemption that allows an alcoholic beverage licensee to make monetary and alcoholic beverage contributions to a symphony association (the San Francisco Symphony) that is a nonprofit charitable corporation or association, as defined, and under specified condition. 7. Allows persons over 21 years of age to produce specified amounts of beer or wine for personal or family use without a permit or license issued by ABC. 8. Permits home brewed wine or beer to be removed from the premises where manufactured for use in competition at organized affairs, exhibitions, or competitions including CONTINUED AB 1425 Page 3 homemakers' contests, tastings, or judgings; and stipulates that wine manufactured by a home winemaker shall not be sold or offered for sale. This bill makes non-controversial and clarifying changes to the ABC Act. Specifically, this bill: 1. Amends Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 23055 to require the Department of ABC to post its annual report to the Legislature on its Internet Web site by March 1 of each year instead of submitting it to the Legislature. This proposed change makes the report easily accessible to interested parties and is consistent with SB 71 (Leno, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2012), which required state agencies to place specified reports on their Internet Web sites instead of submitting them to the Legislature. 2. Amends BPC Section 23356.2 by consolidating separate beer and wine provisions into one designated code section, and allowing beer or wine made for personal or family use to be donated to a nonprofit organization and used at a fundraising event conducted solely by and solely for the benefit of the nonprofit organization and only for consumption on the premises of the fundraising event, provided that a license is issued by ABC. 3. Amends BPC Sections 23356.8 and 23356.9 to remove the grandfather clauses that allow wine blender licensees issued prior to February 2, 1968 to hold retail licenses. At the time these sections were enacted in 1968, two wine blenders held retail licenses. None of the existing Type 22 wine blender licenses were issued or transferred prior to 1968, which makes these grandfather clauses obsolete. 4. Amends BPC Section 25503.1 by removing the December 31, 2014 sunset date. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, CONTINUED AB 1425 Page 4 Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Buchanan, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Grove, Holden, Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy MW:d 9/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED **** END **** CONTINUED