Bill Text: TX HB3339 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the sale and regulation of alcoholic beverages by certain retailers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-04-19 - Left pending in committee [HB3339 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB3339-Introduced.html
By: Patterson | H.B. No. 3339 |
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relating to the sale and regulation of alcoholic beverages by | ||
certain retailers. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. The Alcoholic Beverage Code is amended by adding | ||
Chapter 27 as follows: | ||
Sec. 27.01. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES. The holder of a liquor | ||
and malt beverage retailer's permit may: | ||
(1) purchase liquor in this state from the holder of a | ||
winery, wholesaler's, or class B wholesaler's permit; | ||
(2) purchase malt beverages in this state from the | ||
holder of a general or branch distributor's license; | ||
(3) sell liquor and malt beverages in unbroken | ||
original containers on or from the holder's licensed premises at | ||
retail to consumers for off-premises consumption only and not for | ||
the purpose of resale; | ||
(4) sell vinous liquors in original containers of not | ||
less than six ounces; and | ||
(5) sell wine and malt liquors on the permitted | ||
premises in a separate location from liquor, in the same manner | ||
provided in Section 105.05. | ||
Sec. 27.03. DELIVERIES TO CUSTOMERS. (a) The holder of a | ||
liquor and malt beverage retailer's permit issued for a location | ||
within a city or town or within two miles of the corporate limits of | ||
a city or town may make deliveries of and collections for alcoholic | ||
beverages off the premises in areas where the sale of the beverages | ||
is legal. The permittee must travel by the most direct route and may | ||
make deliveries and collections only within the county or the city | ||
or town or within two miles of its corporate limits, and only in | ||
response to bona fide orders placed by the customer, either in | ||
person at the premises, in writing, by mail, or by telegraph or | ||
telephone. This section shall not be construed as preventing a | ||
holder of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permit from | ||
delivering alcoholic beverages to the holder of a carrier's permit | ||
for transportation to persons who have placed bona fide orders and | ||
who are located in an area that the holder of a liquor and malt | ||
beverage retailer's permit is authorized to directly deliver to | ||
under this section. The holder of a liquor and malt beverage | ||
retailer's permit may also deliver alcoholic beverages to the | ||
holder of a carrier's permit for transportation outside of this | ||
state in response to bona fide orders placed by persons authorized | ||
to purchase the beverages. | ||
Sec. 27.04. LIMITATION ON PERMITTED STORE INTERESTS. (a) A | ||
person may not hold or have an interest, directly or indirectly, in | ||
more than 250 liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted stores | ||
or in their business or permit. | ||
(b) For the purpose of this section: | ||
(1) a person has an interest in any permit in which his | ||
spouse has an interest; and | ||
(2) as to a corporate permittee, the stockholders, | ||
managers, officers, agents, servants, and employees of the | ||
corporation have an interest in the permit, business, and stores of | ||
the corporation. | ||
(c) Except as provided by Sections 22.041 and 22.042, the | ||
commission may not issue more than 15 original liquor and malt | ||
beverage retailer's permits to a person in a calendar year. | ||
Sec. 27.041. ACQUISITION OF EXISTING PERMIT. (a) The | ||
commission may issue an original liquor and malt beverage | ||
retailer's permit to a person for an existing liquor and malt | ||
beverage retailer's permit business if: | ||
(1) the person acquired by purchase or otherwise the | ||
existing liquor and malt beverage retailer's permit business, or | ||
other permit type which may be reclassified to a liquor and malt | ||
beverage retailer's permit; and | ||
(2) the existing liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permit business has been operating in the same county for more than | ||
one year before the date the person acquired the liquor and malt | ||
beverage retailer's permitted business, regardless of which | ||
license type it has previously operated under. | ||
(b) A liquor and malt beverage retailer's permit issued | ||
under this section is not subject to the permit limit under Section | ||
27.04(c). | ||
Sec. 27.042. RECLASSIFICATION OF EXISTING PERMITS. (a) | ||
Subject to Section 27.04(a), an existing permit holder of a | ||
(1) Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit | ||
(2) Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Off-Premise | ||
Permit, or | ||
(3) Wine Only Package Store Permit | ||
may reclassify their existing permit to a liquor and malt beverage | ||
retailer's permit. | ||
(b) A Permit issued under this section is not subject to the | ||
permit limit under Section 27.04(c). | ||
Sec. 27.05. TRANSFER OF PERMITS. The holder of a liquor and | ||
malt beverage retailer's permit may not transfer the permit to | ||
another county. | ||
Sec. 27.06. PROHIBITED INTERESTS. (a) No person who holds | ||
a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permit or owns an interest in | ||
a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted store may have a | ||
direct or indirect interest in any of the following: | ||
(1) a brewer's, retail dealer's on-premise, or general | ||
or branch distributor's license; | ||
(2) a local distributors permit or package store | ||
permit; or | ||
(3) the business of any of the permits or licenses | ||
listed in Subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection. | ||
Sec. 27.08. TRANSFER OF BEVERAGES. (a) The owner of more | ||
than one liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted store may | ||
transfer alcoholic beverages between any of the owner's licensed | ||
premises in the same county between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on | ||
any day when the sale of those beverages is legal, subject to rules | ||
prescribed by the commission. | ||
(b) The holder of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permit may not transport alcoholic beverages under Subsection (a) | ||
unless: | ||
(1) the permit holder provides the commission with a | ||
description, as required by the commission, of each motor vehicle | ||
used by the permit holder to transport alcoholic beverages; and | ||
(2) each motor vehicle is plainly marked or lettered | ||
to indicate that it is being used by the permit holder to transport | ||
alcoholic beverages. | ||
(c) When transporting alcoholic beverages under this | ||
section, the holder of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permit | ||
may not violate the motor carrier laws of this state. | ||
Sec. 27.10. OPENING CONTAINERS PROHIBITED. Except as | ||
authorized under Section 14.07, 22.18, or 37.01(d), a person may | ||
not break or open a container containing liquor or a malt beverage | ||
or possess an opened container of liquor or a malt beverage on the | ||
premises of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted store. | ||
Sec. 27.11. CONSUMPTION ON PREMISES PROHIBITED. Except as | ||
authorized under Section 14.07, 27.18, or 37.01(d), a person may | ||
not sell, barter, exchange, deliver, or give away any drink or | ||
drinks of alcoholic beverages from a container that has been opened | ||
or broken on the premises of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permitted store. | ||
Sec. 27.12. BREACH OF PEACE. The commission or | ||
administrator may suspend or cancel a liquor and malt beverage | ||
retailer's permit after giving the permittee notice and the | ||
opportunity to show compliance with all requirements of law for the | ||
retention of the permit if it finds that a breach of the peace has | ||
occurred on the licensed premises or on premises under the control | ||
of the permittee and that the breach of the peace was not beyond the | ||
control of the permittee and resulted from his improper supervision | ||
of persons permitted to be on the licensed premises or on premises | ||
under his control. | ||
Sec. 27.13. AGE OF EMPLOYEES. (a) A liquor and malt | ||
beverage retailer's permitee may not knowingly utilize or employ | ||
any person under the age of 21 to work on the premises of a liquor | ||
and malt beverage retailer's permitted store, in the separate | ||
premises selling liquor, any capacity or to deliver liquor off the | ||
premises of liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted store. | ||
(c) This section shall not apply to a person who is employed | ||
by the person's parent or legal guardian to work in a liquor and | ||
malt beverage retailer's permitted store that is owned by the | ||
parent or legal guardian. | ||
Sec. 27.14. SEPARATE PREMISES REQUIRED. (a) The premises | ||
of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted store shall be | ||
completely separated from the premises of other businesses by a | ||
solid, opaque wall from floor to ceiling, without connecting doors, | ||
shared bathroom facilities, or shared entry foyers. | ||
(b) A liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted store | ||
may have a separate space on the same premises in which it can sell | ||
malt beverages and wine under the rules applicable to a Wine and | ||
Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit or Wine and Malt Beverage | ||
Retailer's Off-Premise Permit. | ||
(c) The premises of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permitted store shall have a front door through which the public may | ||
enter which opens onto a street, parking lot, public sidewalk, or | ||
the public area of a mall or shopping center. | ||
(d) The premises of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permitted store shall include: | ||
(1) a rear or side entrance which opens onto a street, | ||
parking lot, public sidewalk, or the public area or common area of a | ||
mall or shopping center, which may be used for receipt and | ||
processing of merchandise but which shall in any event serve as an | ||
emergency exit from the premises; and | ||
(2) a bathroom which complies with Title III of the | ||
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (42 U.S.C. | ||
Section 12101 et seq.). | ||
(e) The holder of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permit may sell nonalcoholic products and may conduct other lawful | ||
business on the premises of a liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permitted store, but the premises containing liquor must be closed | ||
to entry by the general public during all hours in which the sale of | ||
liquor by a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted store is | ||
prohibited by law. For purposes of this subsection, "the general | ||
public" shall mean retail customers and shall not include vendors, | ||
service personnel, and other persons entering the premises for | ||
purposes other than the purchase of goods sold on the premises. | ||
(f) A liquor and malt beverage retailer's permit may not be | ||
issued to an applicant for a premises consisting of less than 75,000 | ||
square feet, inclusive of the separate liquor premises and the | ||
other enclosed areas of the permitted premises. | ||
Sec. 27.15. CONDUCTING SEPARATE BUSINESSES AS A COMMON | ||
OPERATION. (a) No liquor and malt beverage retailer's permittee, | ||
except for permittees wholly owned by the same persons, may conduct | ||
business in a manner so as to directly or indirectly coordinate | ||
operations with another liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permitted store as if they shared common ownership. For purposes of | ||
this section, "coordinate operations as if they shared common | ||
ownership" includes engaging in any of the following practices: | ||
(1) cooperatively setting prices or credit policies or | ||
allowing any third party to do so on their behalf; | ||
(2) sharing advertising; | ||
(3) utilizing the same trade name, trademark, or | ||
slogan as another wine, malt beverage, and distilled spirits | ||
permitee in the same county; | ||
(4) sharing or utilizing the same bookkeeping or | ||
computer-processing service, unless the bookkeeping or | ||
computer-processing service is in the business of providing such | ||
services to the general public; | ||
(5) transferring funds, merchandise, or equipment | ||
from one wine, malt beverage, and distilled spirits permitted | ||
business to another; | ||
(6) utilizing the same person as an employee or | ||
independent contractor for two or more liquor and malt beverage | ||
retailer's permitted store businesses in any capacity, unless, in | ||
the case of an independent contractor, the independent contractor | ||
is in the business of providing similar services to the general | ||
public; and | ||
(7) negotiating, or allowing a third party to | ||
negotiate, quantity discounts for alcoholic beverages to be | ||
purchased by the liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted | ||
store business utilizing the sales volume of another liquor and | ||
malt beverage retailer's permitted store business to increase the | ||
discount. | ||
(b) The prohibition set forth in Subsection (a)(3) | ||
regarding trade names, trademarks, and slogans shall not prevent | ||
any liquor and malt beverage retailer's permittee business from | ||
utilizing a trade name, trademark, or slogan which the business was | ||
using on September 1, 2023. | ||
(c) Before the commission may renew a liquor and malt | ||
beverage retailer's permit, an individual who is an owner or | ||
officer of the permittee must file with the commission a sworn | ||
affidavit stating that the permittee fully complies with the | ||
requirements of this section. | ||
(d) Any liquor and malt beverage retailer's permittee who is | ||
injured in his business or property by liquor and malt beverage | ||
retailer's permittee by reason of anything prohibited in this | ||
section may institute suit in any district court in the county where | ||
the violation is alleged to have occurred to require enforcement by | ||
injunctive procedures and to recover triple damages plus costs of | ||
suit including reasonable attorney's fees. | ||
Sec. 27.16. OWNERSHIP BY PUBLIC CORPORATIONS. (a) A liquor | ||
and malt beverage retailer's permit may be owned or held by a public | ||
corporation, or by any entity which is directly or indirectly owned | ||
or controlled, in whole or in part, by a public corporation, or by | ||
any entity which would hold the liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permit for the benefit of a public corporation. | ||
Sec. 27.17. SALE TO CUSTOMER IN STORE AT CLOSING. | ||
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, if a customer has | ||
entered a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permitted store | ||
during hours in which the store may sell alcohol and is still in the | ||
store at the time the hours of legal sale end, the permittee may | ||
allow the customer to remain in the store for a reasonable amount of | ||
time to finish shopping, and the permittee may sell an alcoholic | ||
beverage to that customer even though the sale occurs after the | ||
designated end of the hours of legal sale. | ||
Sec. 27.18. TASTINGS. (a) The holder of a liquor and malt | ||
beverage retailer's permit may conduct product tastings of | ||
distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, or spirit-based coolers on | ||
the permitted premises during regular business hours as provided by | ||
this section. | ||
(b) Written notification of a product tasting must be posted | ||
on the premises of the liquor and malt beverage retailer's | ||
permitted store permit holder not later than 48 hours before the | ||
tasting event. The notification shall clearly state: | ||
(1) the type and brand of alcoholic beverage to be | ||
tasted; | ||
(2) the date and hours the tasting is to take place; | ||
and | ||
(3) the address of the premises where the tasting is to | ||
occur. | ||
(c) A copy of the notification shall be kept on file and | ||
available for inspection on the premises during all tasting hours. | ||
(d) Sample portions at a product tasting shall be limited to | ||
not more than: | ||
(1) one-half ounce for distilled spirits; | ||
(2) one ounce for wine; and | ||
(3) one ounce for malt beverages and coolers. | ||
(e) Not more than 20 different products may be made | ||
available for tasting at any one time. | ||
(f) No charge of any sort may be made for a sample serving. | ||
(g) A person may be served more than one sample. Samples may | ||
not be served to a minor or to an obviously intoxicated person. A | ||
sample may not be removed from the permitted premises. | ||
(h) During the tasting, not more than two containers of each | ||
brand or type of product being tasted may be open on the premises at | ||
one time. | ||
(i) At the conclusion of the tasting, all empty or open | ||
containers of alcoholic beverages used in the tasting shall be | ||
removed from the premises or stored in a locked, secure area on the | ||
permitted premises. | ||
(j) A tasting event authorized by this section may not be | ||
advertised except by on-site communications, by direct mail, by | ||
electronic mail, or on the permit holder's Internet website. | ||
(k) Except as provided by Subsection (l) or elsewhere in | ||
this code, a person other than the liquor and malt beverage | ||
retailer's permittee or the permittee's agent or employee may not | ||
dispense or participate in the dispensing of alcoholic beverages | ||
under this section. | ||
(l) The holder of a distiller's or rectifier's permit or | ||
nonresident seller's permit or that permit holder's agent or | ||
employee may participate in and conduct product tastings of | ||
alcoholic beverages at a retailer's premises and may open, touch, | ||
or pour alcoholic beverages, make a presentation, or answer | ||
questions at the tasting. Any alcoholic beverage tasted under this | ||
subsection must be purchased from the liquor and malt beverage | ||
retailer's permit holder on whose premises the tasting is held. The | ||
permit holder may not require the purchase of more alcoholic | ||
beverages than are necessary for the tasting. This section does not | ||
authorize the holder of a distiller's or rectifier's permit or | ||
nonresident seller's permit or that permit holder's agent or | ||
employee to withdraw or purchase an alcoholic beverage from the | ||
holder of a wholesaler's permit or provide an alcoholic beverage | ||
for tasting on a retailer's premises that is not purchased from the | ||
retailer. | ||
(m) For the purposes of this code and any other law or | ||
ordinance, a liquor and malt beverage retailer's permit does not | ||
authorize the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premise | ||
consumption within the portion of the premises selling liquor. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |