Bill Text: TX HB2884 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to alcoholic beverage license applications and fees.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-02 - Left pending in committee [HB2884 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB2884-Introduced.html
  83R6899 MCK-F
 
  By: Smith H.B. No. 2884
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to alcoholic beverage license applications and fees.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 61.31(a) and (b), Alcoholic Beverage
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A person may file an application for a license to
  manufacture, distribute, store, or sell beer with the commission on
  forms prescribed by the commission [in termtime or vacation with
  the county judge of the county in which he desires to conduct
  business. He shall file the application in duplicate].
         (b)  The county judge shall set a protested [the] application
  for a hearing to be held not less than 15 [5] nor more than 20 [10]
  days after the date the commission submits the application to the
  county judge for a hearing [is filed].
         SECTION 2.  Section 61.32(b), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  If the county judge enters an order favorable to the
  applicant, the applicant shall present a copy of the order to the
  commission [assessor and collector of taxes of the county and pay
  that officer the appropriate license fee. The assessor and
  collector of taxes then shall report to the commission on a form
  prescribed by the commission, certifying that the application was
  approved and that all required fees have been paid and furnishing
  any other information the commission requires. The assessor and
  collector of taxes shall attach a copy of the original application
  to the report].
         SECTION 3.  Section 61.33, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 61.33.  ACTION BY COMMISSION OR ADMINISTRATOR. (a) On
  receiving an order [a report] from the county judge [assessor and
  collector of taxes] under Section 61.32(b) [of this code], the
  commission or administrator shall issue the appropriate license if
  the commission or administrator finds that the applicant is
  entitled to a license. The license shall show the class of business
  the applicant is authorized to conduct, the amount of fees paid, the
  address of the place of business, the date the license is issued and
  the date it expires, and any other information the commission
  considers proper.
         (b)  The commission or administrator may refuse to issue a
  license after receiving the order from [report of] the county judge
  [assessor and collector of taxes] if the commission or
  administrator possesses information from which it is determined
  that any statement in the license application is false or
  misleading or that there is other legal reason why a license should
  not be issued. If the commission or administrator refuses to issue
  a license, the commission [it] or administrator [he] shall enter an
  order accordingly and the applicant is entitled to a refund of any
  license fee the applicant [he] paid [the assessor and collector of
  taxes] in connection with the application.
         SECTION 4.  Section 61.34(b), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  If the judgment of the district court is in favor of the
  applicant, regardless of whether an appeal is taken, the applicant
  shall present a copy of the judgment [shall be presented] to the
  commission [assessor and collector of taxes of the county where the
  application was made. The assessor and collector of taxes shall
  accept the fees required by this code and proceed as provided under
  Section 61.32 of this code as if the county judge had approved the
  application].
         SECTION 5.  Section 61.35, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection
  (e) to read as follows:
         (b)  All license fees, except those for temporary licenses,
  shall be deposited as provided in Section 205.02 [of this code].
  Each license application must be accompanied by a cashier's check,
  a teller's check, a check drawn on the account of a corporation
  applying for a permit, a money order, or payment by credit card,
  charge card, or other electronic form of payment approved by
  commission rule for the amount of the state fee, payable to the
  order of the comptroller. [The assessor and collector of taxes
  shall make statements of the amounts collected by him under this
  code to the commission at the times and in the manner required by
  the commission or administrator.]
         (d)  The commissioner may not refund a license fee except
  when the [If a] licensee [engaged in selling beer] is prevented from
  continuing in business by a local option election or when an
  application for a license is rejected by the commission or
  administrator [, he is entitled to a refund of a proportionate
  amount of the license fees he has paid covering the unexpired term
  of his license]. As much of the proceeds from license fees [derived
  under the provisions of this subtitle] as is necessary may be
  appropriated for that purpose.
         (e)  The commission by rule may establish a method for
  transmitting five percent of the license fee to the assessor and
  collector of taxes of the county in which the applicant's business
  is located.
         SECTION 6.  Section 61.38, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 61.38.  NOTICE OF APPLICATION. (a) Every original
  applicant [When an application] for a license to manufacture, [or]
  distribute, or [beer is filed, the county clerk shall post at the
  courthouse door a written notice containing the substance of the
  application and the date set for hearing.
         [(b)     When an original application to sell beer at retail at
  a location previously licensed is filed, the county clerk shall
  post at the courthouse door a written notice containing the
  substance of the application and the date set for hearing.
         [(c)  When an original application to] sell beer at retail
  shall give notice of the application by electronic or nonelectronic
  publication at the applicant's own expense in [at a location not
  previously licensed is filed, the county clerk shall publish notice
  for] two consecutive issues of [in] a newspaper of general
  circulation published in the city or town in which the applicant's
  place of business is [to be] located. If no newspaper [of general
  circulation] is published in that city or town, the notice must
  [shall] be published in a newspaper of general circulation
  published in the county where the applicant's business is [to be]
  located. If no newspaper [of general circulation] is published in
  that county, the notice must [shall] be published in a qualified
  newspaper [which is] published in the closest neighboring county
  and [is] circulated in the county where the applicant's business is
  located [license is sought].
         (b)  The notice must [shall] be printed in 10-point boldface
  type and must include:
               (1)  [shall set forth] the type of license applied for;
               (2)  the exact location of the business for which the
  license is sought;
               (3)  the name of each [the] owner of the business and,
  if the business is operated under an assumed name, [or owners;] the
  trade name together with the name of each owner[, if operating under
  an assumed name]; and
               (4)  if [in] the [case of a corporate] applicant is a
  corporation, the names and titles of all officers [of the
  corporation].
         (c)  An applicant for a renewal license is not required to
  publish notice. [At the time the application is filed, the
  applicant shall deposit with the clerk the cost of publishing
  notice, which the clerk shall use to pay for the publication.]
         SECTION 7.  Section 61.41(c), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  If the holder of the existing license has made a
  declaration required by the commission that the license holder will
  no longer use the license, the license holder may not manufacture or
  sell beer or possess it for the purpose of sale until the license
  has been reinstated.  The holder may apply to the commission [county
  judge] for the reinstatement of the license in the same manner and
  according to the same procedure as in the case of an original
  license application.  The county judge or the commission or
  administrator may deny reinstatement of the license for any cause
  for which an original license application may be denied.
         SECTION 8.  Section 61.48, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 61.48.  RENEWAL APPLICATION. An application to renew a
  license shall be filed with the commission [in writing with the
  assessor and collector of taxes of the county in which the licensed
  premises are located] no earlier than 30 days before the license
  expires but not after it expires. The application shall be signed
  by the applicant and shall contain complete information required by
  the commission showing that the applicant is not disqualified from
  holding a license. The application shall be accompanied by the
  appropriate license fee [plus a filing fee of $2. The assessor and
  collector of taxes shall deposit the $2 filing fee in the county
  treasury and shall account for it as a fee of office]. No applicant
  for a renewal may be required to pay any fee other than license fees
  and the filing fee unless the applicant [he] is required by the
  commission or administrator to submit to a renewal hearing before
  the county judge.
         SECTION 9.  Section 61.49, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 61.49.  ACTION ON RENEWAL APPLICATION BY [TRANSMITTED
  TO] COMMISSION; REFUND OF FEE. When the renewal application has
  been filed in accordance with Section 61.48 [of this code, the
  assessor and collector of taxes shall transmit to the commission
  the original copy of the application plus a certification that all
  required fees have been paid for the ensuing license period. On
  receiving the application and certification], the commission or
  administrator may in its discretion issue a renewal license or
  reject the application and require the applicant to file an
  application with the county judge and submit to a hearing as is
  required in the case of an original application. [When an
  application for renewal is rejected, the applicant is entitled to a
  refund of any license fee that was paid to the assessor and
  collector of taxes at the time the renewal application was filed.]
         SECTION 10.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a license application filed on or after the effective date of
  this Act.  A license application filed before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
  effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.
         SECTION 11.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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