BILL NUMBER: AB 780 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
Cooper )
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to amend Section 25500.1 of , and to repeal Section
25502.1 of, the Business and Professions Code, relating to
alcoholic beverages.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 780, as amended, Williams. Alcoholic beverages: tied-house
restrictions: on-sale retailers advertising.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act generally prohibits a
manufacturer, winegrower, manufacturer's agent, California winegrower'
s agent, rectifier, distiller, bottler, importer, or wholesaler from
furnishing or lending money or other thing of value to a person
engaged in operating, owning, or maintaining an on-sale licensed
premises. The act provides that the listing of the names, addresses,
telephone numbers, email addresses, Internet Web site addresses, or
other electronic media, of 2 or more unaffiliated on-sale retailers
selling beer, wine, or distilled spirits, as specified,
spirits of a nonretail industry member, as defined,
in response to a direct inquiry from a consumer, as specified,
does not constitute a thing of value or prohibited inducement, if
specified certain conditions are met.
The act includes among those conditions the requirement that the
listing not refer to only one on-sale retailer or only to on-sale
retail establishments controlled by the same retailer. The act
creates a parallel exception from the general prohibition on
furnishing or lending money or things of value for off-sale
retailers, except that it does not reference other electronic media.
This bill would broaden the exception for on-sale retailers
described above by removing the requirement that the listing be
in response to a direct inquiry, as specified.
inquiry and would include within the definition of a nonretail
industry member brandy manufacturers and rectifiers. The bill
would also permit the listing of contact information pursuant to
these provisions for off-sale retailers and would
retailers, make conforming changes to reflect
this inclusion. inclusion, and delete
provisions that would be redundant regarding off-sale retailers, as
described above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25500.1 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
25500.1. (a) The listing of the names, addresses, telephone
numbers, email addresses, or Internet Web site addresses, or other
electronic media, of two or more unaffiliated on-sale or off-sale
retailers selling beer, wine, or distilled spirits produced,
distributed, or imported by a nonretail industry member does not
constitute a thing of value or prohibited inducement to the listed
on-sale or off-sale retailer, provided all of the following
conditions are met:
(1) The listing does not also contain the retail price of the
product.
(2) The listing is the only reference to the on-sale or off-sale
retailers in the direct communication.
(3) The listing does not refer only to one on-sale or off-sale
retailer or only to on-sale or off-sale retail establishments
controlled directly or indirectly by the same retailer.
(4) The listing is made, or produced, or paid for, exclusively by
the nonretail industry member.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "nonretail industry member"
is defined as a manufacturer, including, but not limited to, a beer
manufacturer, winegrower, brandy manufacturer, rectifier,
or distiller of alcoholic beverages or an agent of that entity, or a
wholesaler, regardless of any other licenses held directly or
indirectly by that person.
(c) The Legislature finds that it is necessary and proper to
require a separation among manufacturing interests, wholesale
interests, and retail interests in the production and distribution of
alcoholic beverages in order to prevent suppliers from dominating
local markets through vertical integration and to prevent excessive
sales of alcoholic beverages produced by overly aggressive marketing
techniques. The Legislature further finds that the exceptions
established by this section to the general prohibition against tied
interests shall be limited to their express terms so as not to
undermine the general prohibition, and intends that this section be
construed accordingly.
SEC. 2. Section 25502.1 of the Business
and Professions Code is repealed.
25502.1. (a) Notwithstanding Section 25502, the listing of the
names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, or Internet
Web site addresses, of two or more unaffiliated off-sale retailers
selling the products produced, distributed or imported by a nonretail
industry member in response to a direct inquiry from a consumer
received by telephone, by mail, by electronic inquiry or in person
does not constitute a thing of value or prohibited inducement to the
listed off-sale retailer, provided all of the following conditions
are met:
(1) The listing does not also contain the retail price of the
product.
(2) The listing is the only reference to the off-sale retailers in
the direct communication.
(3) The listing does not refer only to one off-sale retailer or
only to off-sale retail establishments controlled directly or
indirectly by the same off-sale retailer.
(4) The listing is made by, or produced by, or paid for,
exclusively by the nonretail industry member making the response.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "nonretail industry member"
is defined as a manufacturer, including, but not limited to, a beer
manufacturer, winegrower, or distiller of alcoholic beverages, or an
agent of those entities, or a wholesaler, regardless of any other
licenses held directly or indirectly by that person.