BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 818 (Governmental Organization Committee)
          As Introduced  March 14, 2013
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :34-0  
           
           GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION  16-0    APPROPRIATIONS   17-0        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Hall, Nestande, Bigelow,  |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow,   |
          |     |Campos, Chesbro, Cooley,  |     |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian  |
          |     |Gray, Hagman, Roger       |     |Calderon, Campos,         |
          |     |Hernández, Jones,         |     |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez,  |
          |     |Jones-Sawyer, Medina,     |     |Hall, Holden, Linder,     |
          |     |Perea,                    |     |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
          |     |V. Manuel Pérez, Salas,   |     |                          |
          |     |Waldron                   |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Makes non-controversial, clarifying and code  
          maintenance changes to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (the  
          Act).

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)The enactment of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution  
            in 1933 repealed the 18th Amendment and ended the era of  
            Prohibition.  Accordingly, states were granted the authority  
            to establish alcoholic beverage laws and administrative  
            structures to regulate the sale and distribution of alcoholic  
            beverages.  

          2)Establishes the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC)  
            and grants it exclusive authority to administer the provisions  
            of the 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. 

          3)Defines "veteran" for purposes of Veterans' Club licenses as  
            any person who has served in the United States Army, Navy,  
            Marine Corps, Revenue Marine Service, or as an active nurse in  








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            the service of the American Red Cross, or in the Army and Navy  
            Nurse Corps in time of war, or in any expedition of the Armed  
            Forces of the United States, or who served in one of such  
            services during the period September 16, 1940, to December 7,  
            1941, and received a discharge under conditions other than  
            dishonorable.

          4)Requires the holder of a Type 14 public warehouse license to  
            obtain only one license for all warehouses and requires the  
            license holder to post a copy of the original license in any  
            additional warehouses operated by the license holder.   
            Existing law also requires ABC to charge $1 for each copy it  
            issues to a Type 14 license holder.

          5)Prohibits the transfer of an off-sale general license or  
            on-sale general license from one county to another for a  
            purchase price in excess of $10,000 unless it was originally  
            issued on or after June 1, 1961, in which case the purchase  
            price shall not exceed $6,000.  The law provides that after a  
            period of five years from the date of the inter-county  
            transfer of the license, these licenses may be transferred to  
            another county without restrictions on the purchase price.

          6)Prohibits an off-sale licensee from delivering alcoholic  
            beverages ordered by telephone unless the recipient can  
            furnish proof of age and identity to indicate that he or she  
            is 21 years of age or over.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, there are no significant costs associated with this  
          legislation.  

           COMMENTS  :   

           Purpose of the bill  :  This is the annual Senate Governmental  
          Organization Committee bill that makes various non-controversial  
          and code maintenance changes to the Act.  The proposed changes  
          have been requested by ABC.  Specifically this measure:

          1)Would amend Business and Professions (B&P) Code Section 23450,  
            which dates back to 1935, to include persons who have served  
            in the Air Force and Coast Guard in the definition of  
            "veteran" for purposes of being eligible for a Veterans Club  
            license.  








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          2)Would amend B&P Code Section 24041 to clarify that a Type 14  
            public warehouse licensee with multiple warehouses must obtain  
            a duplicate of its original license from ABC for a $1 charge  
            for each additional warehouse operated and post it in each  
            warehouse.  As currently written, Section 24041 is not clear  
            that the duplicates (or copies) must be obtained from ABC.  

          3)Would amend B&P Code Section 24070 to clarify that an original  
            general license cannot be transferred from one county to  
            another for more than the fee set by statute for five years  
            from the date it was last transferred between counties.  The  
            current fee for original general licenses is set in B&P Code  
            Section 23954.5(b) at $13,800. 

          4)Would amend B&P Code Section 25605 to recognize forms of  
            electronic communication, in addition to the telephone, by  
            which alcohol orders may be placed.  Section 25605 was enacted  
            in 1963 before e-mail and other forms of electronic  
            communication existed.

           Prior legislation  :  SB 937 (Governmental Organization  
          Committee), Chapter 327, Statutes of 2012.  Made  
          non-controversial and code maintenance changes to the Act.   
          Among other things, codified the process in which ABC is  
          required to collect a surcharge of 3% of the annual license fees  
          for the ABC Appeals Board's administrative costs; revised the  
          license fee schedule to set forth the fee amounts as of the 2010  
          calendar year; and, revised the provision to prohibit the  
          transfer of an original on-sale or off-sale license for more  
          than the original purchase price for a period of two years.

          SB 1480 (Governmental Organization Committee), Chapter 296,  
          Statutes of 2010.  Made minor clarifying changes, as well as  
          code maintenance changes, to existing provisions of the ABC Act  
          in order to reduce paperwork requirements of ABC. 

          SB 825 (Governmental Organization Committee), Chapter 68,  
          Statutes of 2009.  Made various technical, clarifying and  
          non-substantive changes to the Act.

           Related legislation  :  AB 1425 (Governmental Organization  
          Committee) of 2013.  Requires ABC to post its annual report to  
          the Legislature on its Web site.  In addition, this bill makes  








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          various code maintenance changes to existing provisions of the  
          Act.  This bill is currently on the Senate Floor on the Inactive  
          File.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Eric Johnson / G. O. / (916) 319-2531 


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