BILL NUMBER: SB 778 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 21, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 5, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 25600.1 to the Business and Professions
Code, relating to alcoholic beverages.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 778, as amended, Padilla. Alcoholic beverages licensees:
contests and sweepstakes.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act prohibits any licensee from
giving any premium, gift, or free goods in connection with the sale
or distribution of any alcoholic beverage, except as provided.
This bill would permit an authorized licensee, as defined, to
conduct, sponsor, or participate in a consumer contest or
sweepstakes, as defined, offering the chance to win prizes, if
specified conditions are met.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act provides that a violation of
any of its provisions for which another penalty or punishment is not
specifically provided is a misdemeanor. This bill would expand
existing crimes by imposing additional duties on a licensee under the
act, thus, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25600.1 is added to the Business and
Professions Code, to read:
25600.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an
authorized licensee may conduct, sponsor, or participate in consumer
contests and sweepstakes, subject to the following conditions:
(1) A (A) Except as
provided in subparagraph (B), a purchase or entry fee shall not
be required to enter a contest or sweepstakes. Entry or extra
chances in a contest or sweepstakes shall not be made available via
the purchase of an alcoholic beverage. Entrance into a
contest or sweepstakes shall be limited to persons 21 years
of age or older.
(B) A purchase or entry fee may be required to enter a contest or
sweepstakes if the principal sponsor of the contest or sweepstakes is
a bona fide amateur or professional organization established for the
encouragement and promotion of an activity. Entrance into a contest
where the principal sponsor of the contest or sweepstakes is a bona
fide amateur or professional organization established for the
encouragement and promotion of an activity shall be limited to
persons 21 years of age or older.
(2) (A) Caps, cap liners, corks, labels, cartons, cases, or other
material attached to an alcoholic beverage when purchased
shall not be used as an entry to a contest or sweepstakes
or as a means of determining the amount or size of the prize or the
winner in a contest or sweepstakes.
(B) Neck hangers may carry an entry form
Entry forms may be provided via neck hangers or other printed
materials that are easily removable from alcoholic beverage
containers or packaging only if similar entry forms are
available at the point of sale and are reproduced
or an alternative means of entry is available.
(C) Entry forms may be in the form of codes printed on alcoholic
beverage containers or packaging that may be scanned or
electronically entered by a consumer without requiring the purchase
of any product. All entry forms or codes attached to, printed on, or
in any way connected to or with an alcoholic beverage container or
package shall clearly indicate that the entry form may be removed or
the code scanned or electronically entered without the purchase of
any alcoholic beverage or other product.
(D) All sweepstakes entry forms shall provide an entrant with
equal odds of winning.
(3) Scratch-offs, pull tabs, or other means of instant wins in a
contest or sweepstakes shall be not permitted.
(3) A contest or sweepstakes shall not provide for the instant or
immediate awarding of a prize or prizes.
(4) (A) A visit to a retail premises shall
not be required to enter a contest or sweepstakes.
(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), a contest shall not be
held at the premises of a retail licensee or the premises of a
winegrower or beer manufacturer operating under a duplicate license
for a branch office.
(C) A contest in which the principal sponsor is a bona fide
amateur or professional organization established for the
encouragement and promotion of an activity may be held on the
premises of a retail licensee. Authorized licensees may sponsor or
participate in this type of contest only by making monetary payments
to the bona fide amateur or professional organization acting as the
principal sponsor.
(5) Alcoholic beverages or anything redeemable for alcoholic
beverages shall not be awarded as a contest or sweepstakes prize.
This paragraph shall not prohibit a contest or sweepstakes in which
the prize is cash or the awarding of cash in lieu of a prize that is
tangible personal property or real property.
(6) A retail licensee shall not serve as the agent of an
authorized licensee by collecting or forwarding entries or awarding
prizes to a contest or sweepstakes winner. The matching of entries
with numbers or pictures on the point-of-sale materials at retail
licensed premises is permitted only if entrants are also offered the
opportunity to use an alternative means to determine prize-winning
status.
(7) A licensee that is not an authorized licensee shall not share
in, or contribute to, the costs of a contest or sweepstakes
authorized by this section. A licensee that is not an
authorized licensee shall not section or serve
as the agent of an authorized licensee to collect or forward entries
or to furnish any prize to any a
contest or sweepstakes winner.
(8) (A) Advertising of a contest or sweepstakes shall comply with
the signage and advertising restrictions contained in this chapter,
Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 25500), and any regulations
issued by the department.
(B) Advertising or promotion of a contest or sweepstakes shall not
identify or refer to any retail licensee.
(C) A retail licensee shall only advertise or promote a contest or
sweepstakes authorized by this section in the manner specified in
subparagraph (A).
(D) Advertising or promotion of a contest or sweepstakes shall
only be conducted on the premises of a retail licensee when such
advertisement or promotion involves a minimum of two
three unaffiliated retail licensees. For
purposes of this subparagraph, "unaffiliated retail licensees" shall
not include any retail licensee owned in whole or in part by an
authorized licensee or any officer, director, or agent of that
licensee.
(E) Placement of signs or other advertising of a contest or
sweepstakes in a licensed retail premises shall not be conditioned
upon the following:
(i) Product The placement of
any product within the licensed premises or the exclusion
of a product from the licensed premises .
(ii) The purchase or sale of any product produced
, imported, distributed, represented, or promoted
by an authorized licensee.
(F) An agreement, whether written or oral, entered into, by, and
between a retail licensee and an authorized licensee that precludes
the advertisement or promotion of a contest or sweepstakes on the
premises of the retail licensee by another authorized licensee is
prohibited.
(9) Contest or sweepstakes prizes shall not be awarded to
any an authorized licensee, retail
licensee, or wholesale licensee or agent, officer,
employee, or family member of any an
authorized licensee, retail licensee, or wholesale
licensee. An authorized licensee shall maintain all records
pertaining to a contest or sweepstakes for three years following the
completion of a contest or sweepstakes.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) (A) "Authorized licensee" means a
winegrower, beer and wine importer general, beer manufacturer,
out-of-state beer manufacturer certificate holder, distilled spirits
manufacturer, distilled spirits manufacturer's agent, distilled
spirits importer general, distilled spirits rectifier,
distilled spirits general rectifier, rectifier,
out-of-state distilled spirits shipper's certificate holder, brandy
manufacturer, and brandy importer. An authorized licensee may
hold more than one license issued pursuant to this division
conduct, sponsor, or participate in consumer contest
and sweepstakes pursuant to this section if the licensee holds an
additional license not included in this paragraph .
(B) An "authorized licensee" shall not include a beer and wine
importer general or distilled spirits importer general that only
holds a wholesaler's or retailer's license as an additional license.
(2) "Contest" means a game, contest, puzzle, scheme, plan, or
similar activity that holds out or offers to participants the
opportunity to receive or compete for gifts, prizes, gratuities, or
other things of value as determined by skill, knowledge, or ability
rather than upon random selection. Skill, knowledge, or ability does
not include the consumption or use of alcoholic beverages.
(3) "Principal sponsor" means the person or organization that is
identified as a primary or major sponsor of the event or activity or
for which the event or activity is named.
(3)
(4) "Sweepstakes" means a procedure, activity, or event
for the distribution of anything of value by lot, chance, or random
selection where the odds for winning a prize are equal for each
entry.
(c) A prize awarded for a contest or sweepstakes conducted
pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the monetary
limitations imposed by Section 25600 or a regulation issued by the
department.
(c) A contest or sweepstakes conducted pursuant to this section
shall not offer or award more than five prizes that exceed the
monetary limits for premiums, gifts, or free goods specified in this
division or a regulation of the department.
(d) Nothing in this section authorizes marketing schemes where
consumers are entitled to an allotment of points based on purchases
made over a period of time that can be redeemed for prizes, things of
value, or additional contest or sweepstakes entries.
(e) An authorized licensee that violates this section, in addition
to any other penalty imposed by this division, may be prohibited by
the department from offering a contest or sweepstakes to California
residents for a period of 12 months.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.