BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2739|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2739
Author: Chiu (D), et al.
Introduced:2/19/16
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE: 12-0, 6/14/16
AYES: Hall, Bates, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez,
Hill, Hueso, Lara, McGuire, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control: special
on-sale general license: for-profit theater
SOURCE: Curran Live, LLC
DIGEST: This bill deletes the requirement that a special
on-sale general license for a for-profit theater in San
Francisco cannot be issued until any existing license is
canceled.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC)
and grants it exclusive authority to administer the provisions
of the ABC Act in accordance with laws enacted by the
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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 or occupation taxes for this purpose.
2)Establishes various alcoholic beverage license categories and
a schedule of annual fees charged to the licensees.
3)Authorizes the Department of ABC to issue a special on-sale
general license to any nonprofit theater company - a theater
company holding such a license may sell and serve alcoholic
beverages to ticket holders only during, and two hours prior
to and one hour after, a bona fide theater performance of the
company.
4)Provides that the Department of ABC may issue a special
on-sale general license to the operator of any for-profit
theater, configured with theatrical seating of at least 1,000
seats and primarily devoted to live theatrical performances,
located within the City and County of San Francisco to sell
and serve alcoholic beverages in the lobbies and seating areas
of the theater for the period beginning two consecutive hours
prior to a live theatrical performance and ending one hour
after completion of the performance.
5)Caps the number of new on and off-sale general licenses issued
by the ABC at one for every 2,500 inhabitants of the county
where the establishment is located (2,000:1 for on sale
licenses). If no licenses are available from the state due to
the population restrictions, those people interested in
obtaining a liquor license may purchase one from an existing
licensee, for whatever price the market bears. In 1994, the
Legislature approved a 3-year moratorium on the issuance of
new off-sale beer and wine licenses, which at the time was not
bound by any population to license restriction. In 1997 this
moratorium was made permanent.
6)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). An "off-sale" license authorizes the sale
of all types of alcoholic beverages for consumption off the
premises in original, sealed containers.
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This bill:
1)Deletes the requirement that a special on-sale general license
for a for-profit theater, within the City and County of San
Francisco, cannot be issued by the Department of ABC until any
existing licenses for the premises of the theater are
canceled.
2)Contains an urgency clause, to take effect immediately.
Background
Current law provides for the issuance of a special on-sale
general license (Type 71) that enables the operator of any
for-profit theater configured with theatrical seating of at
least 1,000 seats and located within the City and County of San
Francisco to serve alcoholic beverages (beer, wine and spirits)
during certain hours in specified areas of the theater. [AB 525
(Ting, Chapter 235, Statutes of 2013)]
AB 525 of 2013 was narrowly crafted to enhance the experience of
theatergoers at several of San Francisco's grand and historic
theaters (e.g., Curran, Orpheum & Golden Gate theaters) and
contained several provisions to ensure appropriate controls
relating to licensing including prohibiting the issuance of such
a license until any existing license is canceled.
Purpose of AB 2739. According to the author's office, this bill
has been introduced on behalf of Curran Live, LLC, which
operates the historic Curran Theater in San Francisco. The
Curran Theater, which opened in February 1922, closed on January
1, 2015 for renovations and is scheduled to reopen in January
2017. Prior to its closure, the Curran Theater was operated by
an ABC licensee that will no longer have an ownership interest
in the theater or the alcoholic beverage service when it
reopens.
The author's office contends that a change in statute is
necessary because current law did not take into account the
possibility that an owner or operator of an existing theater may
change ownership, which would leave the new owner without the
ability to apply for and be issued a new license by ABC unless
the prior license is canceled by the previous owner(s). The
author's office argues that this existing requirement prevents
the Curran Theatre from applying for a new special on-sale
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general license or from serving alcoholic beverages to its
patrons when it reopens to the public in January 2017.
Comments
As noted above, the Curran Theater will be under new ownership
when it reopens in January 2017. The current special on-sale
general license (Type 71) for the premises is under surrender -
meaning it's still a valid license, tied to the theater
location, but inactive. The new ownership of the theater is
ineligible for a new type 71 license until the existing license
is canceled. Cancellation of the existing license requires an
action on the part of the licensee; however, the licensee is
unable or unwilling to do so. By deleting the requirement that
any existing license issued for the premises must be canceled
prior to the issuance of a new license this bill will enable the
new owners of the theater to apply for a special on-sale general
license for the theater premises.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 1670 (Dodd, 2016) authorizes the Department of ABC to issue,
from 1/1/2017 to 12/31/2017, no more than a total of 5
additional new original on-sale general licenses for bona fide
public eating places in Napa County. Also authorizes ABC to
issue a special on-sale general license to the operator of any
for-profit theater located within Napa County, subject to
certain requirements and conditions. (Pending in Senate
Appropriations Committee)
AB 525 (Ting, Chapter 235, Statutes of 2013) created a new
special on-sale general license in the ABC Act that enabled the
operator of any for-profit theater, configured with theatrical
seating of at least 1,000 seats and primarily devoted to live
theatrical performances, located within the City and County of
San Francisco to serve alcoholic beverages during certain hours
in specified areas of the theater.
AB 1429 (Governmental Organization, Chapter 567, Statutes of
2001) among other things, deleted the requirement that a
nonprofit theater company must be in existence for at least ten
years in order for ABC to issue a special on-sale general
license.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/1/16)
Curran Live, LLC (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/1/16)
Alcohol Justice
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: - - -
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Alcohol Justice states that "granting
yet another regulatory exemption for a segment of the alcohol
retailers only further erodes fair and effective alcohol
regulation in California. The state already suffers more than
$22 billion in alcohol-related harm and over 10,000
alcohol-related deaths annually. We believe AB 2739 will
ultimately increase those catastrophic alcohol-related harms and
costs in the state."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Dahle, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Daly, Mathis, Olsen
Prepared by:Arthur Terzakis / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
8/3/16 18:40:33
**** END ****
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