BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2349
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 2, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

               AB 2349 (Nestande) - As Introduced:  February 24, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Governmental 
          Organization Vote:                            16 - 0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill revises the direct inquiry provisions in the Alcoholic 
          Beverage Control Act to remove the requirement that 
          manufacturers and distributors can only provide consumer 
          information on where they can find a specific product at an 
          on-sale establishment if that on-sale retailer operates and is 
          licensed as a restaurant.  By removing that requirement, 
          manufacturers and distributors can add bars to the list they 
          provide consumers of on-sale establishments that serve their 
          specific products. 

          FISCAL EFFECT  

          There are no significant costs associated with this legislation. 


           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . Current law prohibits manufacturers and 
            distributors from giving or lending money or anything of value 
            to anyone who operates, owns or maintains any off-sale 
            licensed premise.  However, these licensed entities may list 
            or publish, in response to a direct inquiry from a consumer, 
            the name, address, telephone numbers, e-mail, and web address 
            of two or more retailers who sell their products so long as 
            the retailer operates and is licensed as a restaurant.

            AB 2349 revises the direct inquiry provisions in current law 
            to remove the requirement that the unaffiliated on-sale 
            retailer operates and is licensed as a bona fide public eating 
            place.  This change will allow manufacturers and distributors 








                                                                  AB 2349
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            to provide information on both bars and restaurants that serve 
            their alcohol.

            The author believes that given the development of new social 
            media, a manufacturer or distributor should be allowed to 
            utilize the various social media mediums as a marketing tool 
            to educate a potential customer about additional retail 
            locations where a product can be purchased, not just at 
            restaurants.

           2)Related Legislation . SB 1423 (Chesbro), Chapter 205, Statutes 
            of 2000, authorized wineries and brandy manufacturers to 
            advertise the name and location of restaurants that sell their 
            products.

             Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
            319-2081