BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 905|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 905
Author: Bates (R)
Amended: 4/7/16
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE: 12-0, 4/12/16
AYES: Hall, Berryhill, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer,
Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Lara, McGuire, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Alcoholic beverage control: club licenses
SOURCE: Veterans Association of North County
DIGEST: This bill authorizes the Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control (ABC) to issue a club license to a nonprofit
umbrella organization consisting of multiple veteran
organizations established to provide a central meeting location,
resources, and services for veterans and does not discriminate
or restrict membership, as specified.
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
in this state and the collection of license fees for this
purpose.
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2)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)
3)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.).
4)Authorizes the issuance of a "veterans" club license and
defines veteran to mean any person who has served in the
United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast
Guard, or as an active nurse in the service of the American
Red Cross, or in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps in time of war,
or in any expedition of the Armed Forces of the United States,
or who has served in one of these services during the period
September 16, 1940, to December 7, 1941, and received a
discharge under conditions other than dishonorable. (B & P
Code Section 23450)
5)Defines "veteran" to mean any person who has served full time
in the Armed Forces in time of national emergency or state
military emergency or during an expedition of the Armed Forces
and who has been discharged or released under conditions other
than dishonorable. (Government Code Section 18540.4)
6)Provides that the holder of a veterans' club license may
exercise all of the rights and privileges permitted by an
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on-sale general license but may sell and serve alcoholic
beverages for consumption within the licensed establishment
only to bona fide members of the veterans' organization and
their bona fide guests, bona fide members of other veterans'
organizations, active duty or reserve members of the Armed
Forces or veteran's as defined in Section 18540.4 of the
Government Code.
This bill establishes a new "club" license in the ABC Act that
authorizes the Department of ABC to issue an alcoholic beverage
license to a nonprofit umbrella organization that serves at
least six veteran organizations, as specified and does not
discriminate or restrict membership on account of the person's
color, race, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, or age.
Background
Purpose of SB 905. 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.
The author's office states that recent legislation, SB 685
(McGuire, Chapter 423, Statutes of 2015), which expanded the
authority of a veterans' club to serve and sell alcoholic
beverages for consumption within the club premises to specified
members inadvertently did not address nonprofit umbrella
organizations consisting of multiple veteran service
organizations such as the Veterans Association of North County
(VANC) in San Diego. This bill is intended to fix this
oversight and make VANC and other similar associations eligible
for the same privileges as their constituent member
organizations.
The author's office notes that VANC was established as a
non-profit in 2007 to provide a central meeting place for North
County veterans' organizations and their members, as well as to
provide training, counseling, job placement, housing assistance
and other services to veterans. VANC worked with the City of
Oceanside to establish a long-term lease of an abandoned police
station that they have refurbished and is awaiting its grand
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opening.
In addition to providing a meeting facility, the training that
VANC hopes to offer its members and community is security guard
training and certification, truck driver training, fiber optics
training and certification, as well as, a culinary arts training
and certification program utilizing the kitchen facilities.
VANC would also like to use the facility for a variety of
receptions and dinners.
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 685 (McGuire, Chapter 423, Statutes of 2015) expanded the
privileges of a holder of a veterans' club license by allowing
the licensee to also sell and serve alcoholic beverages for
consumption within the licensed establishment to members of
other veterans' organizations, active duty or reserve members of
the Armed Forces, or veterans, as well as to the members of the
veterans' organization and their guests.
AB 2793 (Governmental Organization Committee, Chapter 273,
Statutes of 2010) among other things, authorized the Department
of ABC to issue a club license to nonprofit lawn bowls' clubs
that do not discriminate or restrict membership, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified4/25/16)
Veterans Association of North County (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/25/16)
None received
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Prepared by:Arthur Terzakis / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
4/27/16 15:57:15
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