BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 768|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 768
Author: Hernandez (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMM. : 12-0, 4/26/11
AYES: Wright, Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Corbett, De
Le�n, Evans, Hernandez, Padilla, Strickland, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Alcoholic beverages
SOURCE : California Retailers Association
DIGEST : This bill modernizes an existing provision of
the Alcoholic Beverage Control 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.
ANALYSIS : The Alcoholic Beverage Control (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
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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.
Existing law 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, or other electronic means, to a licensed
retail premises.
This bill modernizes an existing provision of the 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.
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 1246 (Negrete McLeod), Chapter 395, Statutes of 2008,
allows 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, provides
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, clarifies 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, includes wholesalers among those able to
furnish specified electronic data services to licensed
retail establishments.
SB 1618 (Beverly), Chapter 171, Statutes of 1994,
authorizes beer manufacturers to furnish electronic data
services to licensed retail premises, as specified. Also,
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allows "ice beer," with a higher alcohol content than
"regular" American beer (5.5 percent rather than 4.6
percent), to be sold if the beer bears a label of alcohol
content that meets specified federal requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/10/11)
California Retailers Association (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office notes that the
original statute (Section 25611.2 of the Business and
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 bill is simply
intended to clarify and modernize that statute to ensure
that wireless and Internet transmitted data are permitted
forms of data transmission.
PQ:mw 5/10/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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