BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 325|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 325
Author: Hall (D)
Amended: 3/26/15
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE: 10-0, 4/14/15
AYES: Hall, Berryhill, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Hill, Lara, McGuire, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hueso
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Alcoholic beverages
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill modifies an existing Alcoholic Beverage
Control (ABC) Act provision that requires the Department of ABC,
on or before March 1 of each year, to produce a specified annual
report to the Legislature and instead, requires the Department
of ABC to provide the report upon request of the Legislature.
This bill also makes clarifying changes to an outdated provision
of law relating to airline "club" licenses to reflect current
business models.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Department of ABC and grants it exclusive
authority to administer the provisions of the ABC 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
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Page 2
in this state and the collection of license fees for this
purpose.
2)Requires the Director of the Department of ABC, on or before
March 1 of each year, to make an annual report to the
Legislature on the Department of ABC's activities and to post
the report on its Internet Web site. (B & P Code Section
23055)
3)Defines "club," for purposes of the ABC Act, to mean a
corporation or association which is the owner, lessee, or
occupant of an establishment operated solely for objects of a
social or athletic nature but not for pecuniary gain, having a
bona fide membership list, and the majority of the members of
which pay dues at least once in every year, and the property
as well as the advantages of which belong to the members, and
which sells alcoholic beverages only to its members and its
bona fide guests. (B & P Code Section 23037)
4)Provides for the issuance of a "club" license allowing the
sale of alcoholic beverages to a plethora of
clubs/organizations (e.g., golf club, swimming club, tennis
club, horse riding club, beach and athletic club, handball or
racquetball club, nonprofit mobile homeowners social club,
national fraternal organizations, rod and gun club, peace
officers and firefighters associations, nonprofit social and
religious club, National Guard or Air National Guard club,
labor council, American Citizens club, local dental society
club, condominium homeowners' association, Hidalgo Society,
nonprofit lawn bowls club, etc.).
5)Authorizes the issuance of a club license to clubs operated by
common carriers by air at an airport terminal, as specified.
(B & P Code Section 23428.13)
6)Prohibits the Department of ABC from issuing new club licenses
to clubs that are not organized as a nonprofit (B & P Code
Section 23434). Also, prohibits the Department of ABC from
issuing new club licenses to clubs that do not have at least
100 members (B & P Code Section 23435).
This bill:
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1)Eliminates the existing requirement that the Department of
ABC, on or before March 1 of each year, prepare and submit to
the Legislature an annual report on the Department of ABC's
activities and, instead, provides that the Department of ABC
shall produce such a report upon request of the Legislature.
2)Clarifies that the restrictions relating to nonprofit status
and number of members do not apply to club licenses issued to
clubs operated by common carriers by air at an airport
terminal.
Background
Purpose of SB 325. This bill is simply intended to make
technical, clarifying and non-controversial changes to the ABC
Act.
Existing law requires the Department of ABC, on or before March
1 of each year, to provide an annual report to the Legislature
on the department's activities and to post the report on its
Internet Web site. The report must include information for the
previous fiscal year pertaining to: (1) the amount of funds
allocated and spent for licensing, enforcement, and
administration: (2) the number of licenses issued, renewed,
denied, suspended, and revoked; (3) the average time for
processing license applications, by license category; (4) the
number and type of enforcement activities conducted; and, (5)
the number, type, and amount of penalties, fines, and other
disciplinary actions taken.
The Department of ABC has been producing and providing workload
reports for the industry it regulates and groups interested in
its licensing and enforcement activities since 1941. In 1999,
the Department of ABC began posting all of its annual reports on
the Department of ABC's Internet Web site. For example, the
Department of ABC provides on an annual basis: the Annual
Workload Summary, the Performance Management Report, and the
License Count Summary Report. The Department of ABC indicates
that all of the information requested by Business and
Professions Code Section 23055 is already captured in the
Department of ABC's various reports.
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This bill modifies the annual reporting requirement to instead
require the Department of ABC to provide the report upon request
of the Legislature. The author's office emphasizes that this
bill does not eliminate the statutory requirement for the report
- it simply eliminates the requirement for a separate annual
report to the Legislature thus enabling the Department of ABC to
use its resources for other purposes. The Department of ABC
believes that providing a separate report for the Legislature is
duplicative and consumptive of limited resources and staff.
The author's office points out that over the years numerous
"club" licenses have been added to the ABC Act allowing the
license holder to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for
consumption within the licensed establishment and only to
members of the club and their guests. Currently, the law
prohibits the Department of ABC from issuing "airline" club
licenses to clubs that are not organized as a nonprofit or which
do not have at least 100 members. The author's office notes
that this particular law no longer reflects the structure of the
current licensees. Specifically, airline club licenses are no
longer established as nonprofits and the 100 member requirement
is no longer needed. Therefore, this bill proposes to amend
outdated licensing requirements for this type of licensee to
reflect the realities of the business models currently in place.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 749 (Hall, Chapter 221, Statutes of 2011) changed the period
covered by the Department of ABC annual report to the
Legislature from a "calendar" year time period to a "fiscal"
year.
SB 1480 (Committee on Governmental Organization, Chapter 296,
Statutes of 2010), among other things, deleted the requirement
that the Director of the Department of ABC include
recommendations for legislation in the annual Department of ABC
report to the Legislature.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
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SUPPORT: (Verified 4/27/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified 4/27/15)
None received
Prepared by:Arthur Terzakis / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
4/29/15 16:30:46
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