SENATE BILL 79

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

William P. Soules

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO LIQUOR LICENSES; PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF DISPENSER'S LICENSES TO MUNICIPALITIES AND THE LEASE OF THOSE LICENSES TO QUALIFIED LESSEES; PERMITTING WHOLESALERS TO SELL OR OFFER TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES TO QUALIFIED LESSEES.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 60-6A-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter 39, Section 18, as amended) is amended to read:

     "60-6A-1. WHOLESALER'S LICENSE.--

          A. In any local option district, a person qualified under the provisions of the Liquor Control Act may apply for and be issued a license as a wholesaler of alcoholic beverages.

          B. [No] A wholesaler shall not sell, offer for sale or ship alcoholic beverages [not] received at and shipped from a premises other than the premises specified in the wholesaler's license. As used in this section, "received at and shipped from" means that all alcoholic beverages shall be unloaded at the wholesaler's licensed premises and placed into inventory before being sold and shipped to a licensed retailer.

          C. [No] A wholesaler shall not sell or offer for sale alcoholic beverages to any person other than the holder of a New Mexico wholesaler's, retailer's, dispenser's, canopy, restaurant or club license; a qualified lessee of a municipal dispenser's license; a governmental licensee or its lessee; or an enterprise owned, operated or licensed by an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo within the state in conformity with an ordinance duly adopted by the Indian nation, tribe or pueblo having jurisdiction over the situs of the transaction within the area of Indian country, certified by the secretary of the interior, published in the federal register, according to the laws of the United States."

     SECTION 2. A new section of the Liquor Control Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] MUNICIPAL DISPENSER'S LICENSE.--

          A. Upon request of the governing body of a municipality that is, or that is located in, a local option district, the director shall, for each twenty thousand inhabitants of the municipality as shown by the last federal decennial census, issue to the municipality a municipal dispenser's license.

          B. A municipality may lease a municipal dispenser's license to a qualified lessee, who shall be subject to the provisions of the Liquor Control Act and all rules governing dispensers, including annual renewal fees and taxes; provided that the qualified lessee shall have no property right in the municipal dispenser's license.

          C. A municipal dispenser's license shall:

                (1) be used for the sole purpose of being leased to a qualified lessee;

                (2) not be transferred; and

                (3) not expire.

          D. A municipality shall not be liable or accountable for the use of its municipal dispenser's license, including liability for a violation of the Liquor Control Act and for fees and taxes charged against the license. A municipal dispenser's license that is revoked for a violation of the Liquor Control Act by a qualified lessee shall revert to the municipality.

          E. A municipality may cancel a lease if the qualified lessee violates or fails to fulfill a requirement of the Liquor Control Act or rule governing a dispenser.

          F. A municipality shall use the proceeds from leasing a municipal dispenser's license to support economic development in the municipality.

          G. The provisions of Section 60-6A-18 NMSA 1978 shall not apply to a municipal dispenser's license.

          H. For the purposes of this section:

                (1) "municipal dispenser's license" means a license issued to a municipality under the provisions of the Liquor Control Act and for the sole purpose of leasing the license to a qualified lessee; and

                (2) "qualified lessee" means a person that possesses the same qualifications required of a person to obtain a dispenser's license under the Liquor Control Act."

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