BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1798
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1798 (Evans) - As Amended: April 5, 2010
Policy Committee: Governmental
Organization Vote: 21 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill increases, from 60 to 75 days, the length of time that
the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board has to enter an
order after an appeal is filed. In addition, this bill makes
minor, clarifying changes to provisions of the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Act to reduce paperwork requirements of the
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC).
FISCAL EFFECT
There are no significant costs associated with this legislation.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The Appeals Board has a backlog of appeals, which
reflects the increased enforcement of alcohol licensees by the
ABC to curtail underage drinking. In recent years, the
Legislature has provided minor augmentations to the budget of
the Appeals Board by increasing the fees on licensees which
fund the Appeals Board and ABC to make this possible.
According to the author, as the Legislature considers the
governor's pending budget proposals to further augment funding
for the Appeals Board, it is appropriate to reassess the
statutory timetable with which the Appeals Board must comply
to enter an order once an appeal has been filed by a licensee.
The current timetable is often not met yet must be reliable.
Therefore, it should be revisited.
The author asserts that by providing an additional 15 days for
the Appeals Board to act, this bill will provide new statutory
AB 1798
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flexibility to the Appeals Board while giving licensees, law
enforcement, and communities assurances that a prompt review
of charges against licensees who sell alcoholic beverages to
minors will occur.
2)The ABC Appeals Board . The board is made up of three members
appointed by the governor. The staff consists of six people: a
chief counsel, two staff attorneys, two legal secretaries, and
one student assistant. Funding for the board comes entirely
from surcharge on all ABC license renewals. All board
activities, staff functions, and budget expenditures are
directed toward the review and finalization of appeals.
The board receives between 100 and 300 appeals cases a year
and conducts 12 hearings each year. A majority of the cases
reviewed by the board relate to alcohol sales to minors.
According to the board, approximately 3% of the sales to minor
cases or an estimated 10% of the overall cases are reversed or
partially reversed.
The board also notes that their process is a lengthy one and
generally takes 6 months per case; therefore changing the
timeline from 60 days to 75 days is unlikely to make a
difference.
3)Related Legislation . In 2008, AB 1245 (Torrico) would have
required the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board to enter
its order within 75 days after the filing of an appeal. The
contents of that bill were stripped in the Senate and the
vehicle was used for another purpose.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081