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| SPONSOR: | Aragon | DATE TYPED: | 02/02/00 | HB | |||
| SHORT TITLE: | Separate Access to Liquor Department | SB | 182 | ||||
| ANALYST: | Valdes | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY00 | FY01 | FY00 | FY01 | ||
| Indeterminate | |||||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 182 proposes to enact a new section of the Liquor Control Act. The bill would require general merchandise stores with a total display area 20,000 square feet or larger, that sell alcoholic beverages in unbroken containers to provide public access to its alcoholic beverage package sales through doors that provide access directly to the exterior of the store. The bill also requires these stores to physically separate alcoholic beverage sales from general merchandise sales with floor to ceiling walls. All alcoholic beverage transactions must occur within the designated alcoholic beverage sales area.
General merchandise is defined as any merchandise that is not an alcoholic beverage and includes groceries.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
RLD stated that fiscal impact to the department is unknown.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Dispenser and retailer licensees would have to be notified of this requirement and RLD would have to verify that all applicable retail merchandise stores affected by this legislation have complied with its requirements. The department would have to compile floor space information on each licensee to determine which businesses would require wall partitions and exterior door access. RLD would have to review and approve amended floor plans before required changes could be constructed.
Implementation of this bill would require additional workload for RLD in FY01 to bring affected general merchandise stores into compliance.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The bill requires addition of floor to ceiling walls and addition of direct, exterior access doors by July 1, 2000. Affected businesses would have a difficult time meeting this deadline. They would have to be notified of this requirement once the bill becomes law. They would be required to develop floor plans, obtain building permits and complete construction work before July 1, 2000.
There are no penalty provisions in this bill for businesses that do not comply with the requirements by July 1, 2000.
MV/sb