BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2121
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB
2121 (Gonzalez)
As Enrolled September 9, 2016
2/3 vote
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |64-11 |(June 2, 2016) |SENATE: |37-2 |(August 17, |
| | | | | |2016) |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|COMMITTEE VOTE: |17-0 |(August 30, |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
| | |2016) | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(G.O.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |63-12 |(August 31, | | | |
AB 2121
Page 2
| | |2016) | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Establishes the Responsible Beverage Service (RBS)
Training Program Act of 2016, beginning July 1, 2020, that
requires an alcohol server, as defined, to successfully complete
an RBS training course from an accredited training provider
within three months of employment and every three years
thereafter.
The Senate amendments:
1)Define "accredited training provider" to mean either of the
following:
a) A training provider accredited by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) that meets ASTM International
E2659-15 Standard Practice for Certificate Programs or
b) A training provider accredited by an accreditation
agency other than ANSI, provided the accreditation agency
is authorized by the department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control (ABC) to accredit training providers offering RBS
training courses.
2)Permit ABC to authorize an accreditation agency, in addition
to ANSI, to accredit training providers to offer RBS training
courses and to collect fees to cover reasonable costs
associated with the review and approval of that accreditation
agency.
AB 2121
Page 3
3)Stipulate that, beginning July 1, 2020, an authorized
licensee, the agent or employee of that licensee, or an
alcohol server who knowingly and intentionally violates any
provision of this bill, shall only be subject to certain ABC
Act civil and administrative penalties.
4) Make technical and clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by ABC,
regulates the granting of licenses for the manufacture,
distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages within the
state.
2)Defines an "On-sale" license as authorizing the sale of all
types of alcoholic beverages namely, beer, wine and distilled
spirits, for consumption on the premises (such as at a
restaurant or bar).
3)Provides that every person who sells, furnishes, gives, or
causes to be sold, furnished, or given away, any alcoholic
beverage to any habitual or common drunkard or to any
obviously intoxicated person is guilty of a misdemeanor.
4)States no person who sells, furnishes, gives, or causes to be
sold, furnished, or given away, any alcoholic beverage shall
be civilly liable to any injured person or the estate of such
person for injuries inflicted on that person as a result of
intoxication by the consumer of such alcoholic beverage.
AB 2121
Page 4
5)Allows ABC to issue licenses and authorizations for the retail
sale of beer, wine and distilled spirits on a temporary basis
for special events (Special Daily Beer and/or Wine License,
Daily On-Sale General License).
6)States a cause of action may be brought by or on behalf of any
person who has suffered injury or death against any person
licensed, or required to be licensed, as specified, or any
person authorized by the federal government to sell alcoholic
beverages on a military base or other federal enclave, who
sells, furnishes, gives or causes to be sold, furnished or
given away any alcoholic beverage, and any other person who
sells, or causes to be sold, any alcoholic beverage, to any
obviously intoxicated minor where the furnishing, sale or
giving of that beverage to the minor is the proximate cause of
the personal injury or death sustained by that person.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill established the Responsible
Beverage Service Training Program, beginning July 1, 2020.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to Senate Appropriations Committee,
ongoing costs of approximately $250,000 per year for initial
development, evaluation, testing, and implementation of the RBS
Training Program and two analyst positions for establishing the
rulemaking process, establishing the credentialing process,
establishing the auditing program, preparation of outreach
information and Web design for information. In addition,
unknown costs for development of information technology,
administrative, and educational structures to support the
program. Costs are expected to decrease over time.
Additionally, unknown costs to approve accreditation agencies
other than the ANSI. There is a potential source of revenue for
a fee for the review and approval of accreditation agencies;
however, it is currently unknown whether any such accreditation
agencies other than ANSI exist. All of the above referenced
costs would be to the ABC Fund.
AB 2121
Page 5
COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill: According to the author, this bill will
establish an RBS Training Program that will require alcohol
servers, beginning July 1, 2020, to obtain certification that
they have successfully completed an RBS training course from an
accredited training provider within three months of employment
and every three years thereafter. The Department of ABC will be
required to develop a list, published on its Web site, of
accredited RBS training courses. Also, both new and renewal
applicants for on-sale licenses will be required to provide ABC
with documentation that its employees have successfully
completed an RBS accredited training course. Additionally, this
bill requires nonprofit organizations that have obtained
temporary daily off-sale or on-sale licenses to designate at
least one person to receive RBS training prior to the event and
that person must stay on site for the duration of the event.
Furthermore, this bill provides that a licensee, the agent or
employee of that licensee, or an alcohol server who knowingly
and intentionally violates any provision of this bill shall only
be subject to civil and administrative penalties.
According to the author's office, "The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration claims that more than 10,000 people die on
our streets every year - the equivalent of one fatality every 51
minutes due to drunk driving. While we cannot entirely stop
every individual from making bad decisions that put innocent
people at risk, we do have a responsibility to intervene when we
can. Unlike 18 other states and the District of Columbia,
California does not require responsible beverage server training
for those bartenders and restaurant servers who are serving
alcohol to customers and are in a unique position to assess and
intervene if customers pose a potential threat. While law
enforcement does its best with checkpoints and other
enforcement, these approaches only help after someone has
AB 2121
Page 6
already made the choice to get behind the wheel when they should
not. That is not good enough. This bill seeks to help
individuals who serve alcohol meet their statutory requirement
not to serve obviously intoxicated patrons and minors by
requiring participation in an RBS training course from an
accredited training provider within three months of employment
and every three years thereafter. The ancillary benefit is a
reduction in drunk driving."
Background:
Dram Shop Law: A dram shop law is a type of statute that holds
any business establishment strictly liable for selling alcoholic
beverages to a person who is obviously intoxicated. The purpose
of dram shop laws is to increase the responsibility of those who
make profits by tendering alcoholic beverages to guests. The
word "dram" refers to a British unit of measurement for serving
alcohol. Dram shop laws usually deal with prohibiting alcohol
sales to intoxicated persons, but sometimes they may also cover
the sale of alcohol to minors, as well as issues with licenses
and identification. Most states have some form of these types
of laws, but they vary widely between jurisdictions.
California's Dram Shop Law specifies that a vendor who provides
alcohol to a person 21 years of age or older cannot be held
liable for damages if the person then injures someone else, even
if the person was obviously intoxicated at the time. The law
states that the consumption of alcohol, not the furnishing of
the beverages, is the proximate cause of injuries that an
intoxicated person inflicts on another individual, a position
that largely eliminates dram shop liability. Thus, the sale of
alcohol by bars, liquor stores and restaurants in California is
not considered to be the cause of an automobile accident.
RBS Training Programs: RBS training is not mandatory in
AB 2121
Page 7
California although some cities and counties do require RBS
training in order to sell or serve alcoholic beverages at
licensed establishments within their jurisdictions.
Currently, ABC oversees the Licensee Education on Alcohol and
Drugs Program (LEAD) - a free, voluntary prevention and
education program for retail licensees, their employees and
applicants. The mission of the LEAD program is to provide high
quality, effective and educationally sound training on alcohol
responsibility and the law to California retail licensees and
their employees. The Program was initiated in 1991 with a grant
from the California Office of Traffic Safety. The training
classes are offered at a variety of locations throughout the
state and include instruction on checking various forms of
identification, detecting and preventing illegal activity,
reducing liability and much more. Each training class lasts
four hours. At the conclusion of the class, there is an exam on
the material that was covered and each person that fulfills all
of the training requirements receives a certificate, via email,
certifying that they successfully completed a LEAD training
course.
In support: Proponents state that "this legislation establishes
a reasonable training requirement. Eighteen other states and
the District of Columbia already require this training. RBS
training provides bartenders and servers with tools to
effectively identify when a patron has had too much to drink and
how to safely intervene if the patron attempts to get into their
car. Responsible beverage training has been found to increase
appropriate server practices, increase refusal to serve
obviously intoxicated patrons, and decrease the percentage of
intoxicated patrons leaving an establishment. Three years after
Oregon mandated responsible beverage service training, fatal
single vehicle nighttime crashes decreased by an estimated 23%."
AB 2121
Page 8
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
I am returning Assembly Bill 2121 without my signature.
This bill requires alcohol servers, beginning July 1, 2020, to
complete a training program intended to reduce excessive alcohol
consumption among consumers and to repeat the program every
three years thereafter.
The goal of the program is to teach alcohol servers how to
recognize who has consumed too much alcohol by using courses
approved by the American National Standards Institute, a
for-profit accrediting body. I would prefer to have the
Department of Alcohol Beverage Control determine the steps
needed to beef up our training programs where necessary.
Analysis Prepared by:
Eric Johnson / G.O. / (916) 319-2531 FN:
0005136