BILL NUMBER: AB 1303	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gray

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 25503.24 of the Business and Professions
Code, relating to alcoholic beverages.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1303, as introduced, Gray. Alcoholic beverages: tied-house
restrictions.
   Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, prohibits
specified holders of alcoholic beverage licenses from having
specified relationships with an on-sale alcoholic beverage licensee,
with limited exceptions. Existing law permits a manufacturer,
winegrower, rectifier, distiller, distilled spirits wholesaler, or
any agent of those licenses, to conduct market research and, in
connection with that research, to purchase from licensed off-sale
retailers data, regarding purchases and sales of alcoholic beverage
products, at the customary rates that those retailers sell similar
data for nonalcoholic beverage products, provided that no licensed
retailer shall be obligated to purchase or sell the alcoholic
beverages of the manufacturer, winegrower, rectifier, or distiller. A
violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act is a misdemeanor,
unless another penalty or punishment is specified.
   This bill would additionally include a distilled spirits
wholesaler in the provision prohibiting a licensed retailer from
being obligated to purchase or sell the alcoholic beverages of the
licensee conducting the market research.
   Because the violation of this provision would be punishable as a
misdemeanor, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 25503.24 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:
   25503.24.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
chapter, any manufacturer, winegrower, rectifier, distiller,
distilled spirits wholesaler, or any officer, director, agent, or
representative of any of those entities, may conduct market research
and, in connection with that research, the entity conducting the
market research may purchase from licensed off-sale retailers data
regarding purchases and sales of alcoholic beverage products at the
customary rates that those retailers sell similar data for
nonalcoholic beverage products subject to the following limitations:
   (1) No licensed retailer shall be obligated to purchase or sell
the alcoholic beverage products of that manufacturer, winegrower,
rectifier,  or  distiller  , or distilled
spirits wholesaler  .
   (2) No retail premises shall participate in more than one research
project conducted by any single manufacturer, winegrower, rectifier,
distiller, or distilled spirits wholesaler during a calendar year. A
research project may involve multiple onsite surveys.
   (3) Nothing in this section shall allow a licensed retailer to
require a manufacturer, winegrower, rectifier, distiller, or
distilled spirits wholesaler to conduct any market research as a
condition for selling alcoholic beverage products to that licensed
retailer.
   (b) Any holder of a beer manufacturer's license or winegrower's
license who, through coercion or other illegal means, induces,
directly or indirectly, a holder of a beer or wine wholesaler's
license to fulfill obligations entered into pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a
fine in an amount equal to the entire value of the market research or
time involved in the project, whichever is greater, plus ten
thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both imprisonment and fine. The
person shall also be subject to license revocation pursuant to
Section 24200.
   (c) Any retail licensee who, directly or indirectly, solicits or
coerces a holder of a beer or wine wholesaler's license to solicit a
beer manufacturer, or holder of a winegrower's license to fulfill
obligations entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment in the county
jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine in an amount equal to the
entire value of the market research or time involved in the project,
whichever is greater, plus ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by
both imprisonment and fine. The person shall also be subject to
license revocation pursuant to Section 24200.
   (d) For the purposes of this section, "beer manufacturer" includes
any holder of a beer manufacturer's license, any holder of an
out-of-state beer manufacturer's certificate, or any holder of a beer
and wine importer's general license.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.