BILL ANALYSIS �
Bill No: SB
768
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
SB 768 Author: Hernandez
As Introduced: February 18, 2011
Hearing Date: April 26, 2011
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
Alcoholic Beverages
DESCRIPTION
SB 768 modernizes an existing provision of the Alcoholic
Beverage Control (ABC) Act by including Internet and other
wireless data within the description of allowable
electronic data services that alcoholic beverage
manufacturers and wholesalers may provide to retailers.
EXISTING LAW
The ABC Act regulates the provision of signs and other
advertising material to licensed retail premises by
manufacturers and others under tied-house and "free goods"
provisions. Existing law provides that no licensee shall,
directly or indirectly, give any premium, gift, free goods,
or other thing of value in connection with the sale,
distribution, or sale and distribution of alcoholic
beverages, and no retailer shall, directly or indirectly,
receive any premium, gift, free goods or other thing of
value from a supplier of alcoholic beverages, except as
authorized by the Department of ABC.
Section 25611.2 of the Business & Professions Code provides
that nothing in the ABC Act prohibits any alcoholic
beverage manufacturer, manufacturer's agent, winegrower, or
wholesaler from furnishing electronic data services, which
are limited to transmission by telephone line, microwave,
SB 768 (Hernandez) continued
Page 2
or other electronic means, to a licensed retail premises.
BACKGROUND
Purpose of SB 768: The author's office notes that the
original statute (Section 25611.2 of the Business &
Professions Code) enacted in 1994 that authorized an
alcoholic beverage manufacturer or wholesaler to furnish a
retailer with electronic data services regarding inventory
purchased from the manufacturer or wholesaler did not fully
envision all of the electronic means that might be used in
the transmission of that data. Thus, this measure is
simply intended to clarify and modernize that statute to
ensure that wireless and Internet transmitted data are
permitted forms of data transmission.
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 1246 (Negrete McLeod) Chapter 395, Statutes of 2008.
Allowed a beer wholesaler to sell or rent exterior signs
advertising beer for use at any on-sale or off-sale retail
premises at no less than "cost," as defined in existing
law.
AB 395 (Briggs) Chapter 207, Statutes of 2001. Provided
that interior signs advertising beer that are provided to
on-sale or off-sale retail establishments, remain the
property of the beer wholesaler who authorized and
furnished the signs, unless sold or given to the licensee.
AB 973 (Papan) Chapter 26, Statutes of 1997. Clarified the
type of alcoholic beverage advertising signs manufacturers
and wholesalers may provide to retail licensees.
AB 3144 (Granlund) Chapter 99, Statutes of 1996. Among
other things, included wholesalers among those able to
furnish specified electronic data services to licensed
retail establishments.
SB 1618 (Beverly) Chapter 171, Statutes of 1994.
Authorized beer manufacturers to furnish electronic data
services to licensed retail premises, as specified. Also,
allowed "ice beer," with a higher alcohol content than
"regular" American beer (5.5% rather than 4.6%), to be sold
if the beer bears a label of alcohol content that meets
specified federal requirements.
SB 768 (Hernandez) continued
Page 3
SUPPORT: As of April 22, 2011:
California Retailers Association (sponsor)
OPPOSE: None on file as of April 22, 2011.
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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