General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2008>Alcoholic Beverage Control Act

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Alcoholic Beverage Control Act

Passed

P HB548

Alcoholic beverage control; mixed beverage licenses. Allows the holder of a limited mixed beverage restaurant license to sell and serve dessert wine, in addition to certain liqueurs, as a privilege of the license.
Patron - Nixon

P HB694

Alcoholic beverage control; wine tastings by gourmet shop licensees. Allows gourmet shop licensees to give samples of wine or beer at tastings sponsored by the licensee for its customers for on-premises consumption. Additionally, with the consent of the licensee, farm wineries, wineries, breweries, and wholesale licensees may participate in tastings held by licensees authorized to conduct tastings, including the pouring of samples to any person to whom alcoholic beverages may be lawfully sold. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Patron - Armstrong

P HB908

Alcoholic beverage control; operation of government stores; Sunday sales. Allows ABC stores to be open on Sunday in any city with a population of 100,000 or more. Since 2004, ABC stores may be open, at the discretion of the ABC Board, in the Counties of Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince William, and in the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax City, Manassas, Manassas Park, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach. The bill would add the Cities of Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Richmond, and Chesapeake.
Patron - Gear

P HB1075

Alcoholic beverage control; powers and duties of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board generally; prohibited acts by licensees; exceptions. Requires the ABC Board to adopt regulations allowing an on-premises licensee to reduce the length of any suspension or reduce the amount of any civil penalty if the licensee can demonstrate that it provided certified alcohol server training to its employees. The bill also authorizes an on-premises restaurant licensee to use alcoholic beverages that the licensee otherwise is authorized to purchase and possess for the purposes of preparing and selling for on-premises consumption food products with a final alcohol content of more than one-half of one percent by volume, as long as such food products are sold and consumed by persons who are 21 years of age or older. The bill provides that no ABC Board regulation may prohibit this. The bill prohibits a licensee from conducting a "happy hour" or related promotion at a licensed restaurant except during hours permitted by Board regulation. In addition, the ABC Board is prohibited from adopting regulations prohibiting any mixed beverage licensee from pre-mixing, either in a frozen drink dispenser of a type approved by the Board, or otherwise, mixed alcoholic beverages for purposes of sale and consumption on the licensed premises. The bill requires the ABC Board to adopt regulations providing for alternative methods for licensees to maintain and store business records that are subject to Board inspection, including methods for Board-approved electronic and off-site storage. The bill also defines the term "reasonable hours" for purposes of ABC Board inspection of retail licensee records. A mixed beverage licensee is authorized to mix wine, beer and spirits as an alcoholic beverage drink for a patron. The bill contains technical amendments. HB 862 and HB 1269 were incorporated into this bill.
Patron - Suit

P HB1117

Alcoholic beverage control; suspension and revocation of licenses. Permits the revocation of a license if the licensee has allowed his premises to become a meeting place or rendezvous for members of a criminal street gang, as defined in § 18.2-46.1.
Patron - Miller, P.J.

P HB1132

Alcoholic beverage control; wine and beer licenses. Adds the City of Roanoke to the list of locations where food concessions at outdoor amphitheaters, etc. having a seating capacity of more than 3,500 can obtain retail on-premises wine and beer licenses.
Patron - Fralin

P HB1171

Alcoholic beverage control; prohibited acts; grounds for suspension or revocation of license; exceptions. Removes the authority of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to revoke or suspend a license if an establishment has allowed noisy, lewd, or disorderly conduct upon the licensed premises. The bill clarifies that the Board may revoke or suspend a license if a licensee allows obscene literature, pictures or materials upon the licensed premises. The Board may also revoke a license if the licensee allows any striptease act or any person connected with the licensed business to appear nude or partially nude unless the licensee is operating a theatre, concert hall, art center, museum, or similar establishment that is devoted primarily to the arts or theatrical performances, when the performances are expressing matters of serious literary, artistic, scientific, or political value. For a mixed beverage licensee, the Board may revoke or suspend the license if the licensee allows entertainment of an obscene nature, stripteasing, topless entertaining, or entertainment that has employees who are not clad both above and below the waist unless the licensee is operating a theatre, concert hall, art center, museum, or similar establishment that is devoted primarily to the arts or theatrical performances, when the performances are expressing matters of serious literary, artistic, scientific, or political value.
Patron - Cosgrove

P HB1239

Beer and wine licensure qualifications. Requires gourmet shop licensees to maintain each year an average monthly inventory and sales volume of at least $1,000 in cheeses and gourmet food.
Patron - Saxman

P HB1379

Alcoholic beverage control; exemptions from the Virginia Public Procurement Act. Exempts the purchase of products used in connection with distilled spirits intended for resale from the Virginia Public Procurement Act as it applies to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
Patron - Morrissey

P HB1399

Alcoholic beverage control; farm wineries. Permits farm wineries to receive deliveries and shipments of wine not manufactured by the farm winery and sell and deliver or ship this wine to the Board or wholesale licensees for the purpose of resale. The bill also clarifies the definition of farm.
Patron - Scott, E.T.

P HB1502

Alcoholic beverage control; canal boat operator license. Creates a canal boat operator license, sets the privileges of this new license, and sets the applicable state and local license tax. The bill defines canal boat operator.
Patron - Loupassi

P HB1562

Alcoholic beverage control; transfer of licenses. Allows for the transfer of an ABC license upon application by a bona fide purchaser of a licensed premises under certain conditions. Bona fide purchasers whose license transfer application is granted by the Board shall, at the time for renewal of the license, meet all of the requirements for initial licensure. The bill provides that the ABC Board may not grant a license transfer to an applicant against whom there is pending in the courts or before the Board a charge for violation of the provisions of Title 4.1 or Board regulations. Additionally, the Board may refuse to grant a license transfer for such causes as are specified in § 4.1-222.
Patron - Scott, J.M.

P SB198

Alcoholic beverage control; operation of government stores. Allows certain holders of a distiller's license, appointed as agents of the ABC Board, to also sell alcoholic beverages produced on the licensed premises. Currently, the alcoholic beverages must be manufactured by the licensees. The bill contains an emergency clause.
Patron - Puller

P SB584

Alcoholic beverage control; prohibited acts by licensees; exceptions. Allows a mixed beverage licensee to make sangria. The bill defines sangria and provides that a mixed beverage licensee is prohibited from pre-mixing containers of sangria to be served and sold in pitchers for consumption on the licensed premises. The bill also provides a mixed beverage licensee may (i) make sangria that contains brandy, triple sec, or other similar spirits, (ii) combine beer or spirits, or both, with wine pursuant to a patron's order, or (iii) combine wine or spirits, or both, with beer pursuant to a patron's order.
Patron - Ticer

P SB635

Alcoholic beverage control; alcohol content in prepared foods. Prohibits licensees from keeping any alcoholic beverage other than in the bottle or container in which it was purchased by him except (i) for a frozen alcoholic beverage and (ii) in the case of wine, in containers of a type approved by the Board pending automatic dispensing and sale of such wine. The bill also prohibits the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board from prohibiting an on-premises restaurant licensee from using alcoholic beverages that the licensee otherwise is authorized to purchase and possess for the purposes of preparing and selling for on-premises consumption food products with a final alcohol content of more than one-half of one percent by volume, as long as such food products are sold and consumed by persons who are 21 years of age or older.
Patron - Ticer

P SB669

Alcoholic beverage control; application for licenses; criminal history checks. Permits ABC agents to check the national criminal database when conducting background checks on prospective licensees. The bill also increases the fee that an applicant for an ABC license has to pay for a national criminal history check through the FBI or CCRE from $20 to the actual cost of those criminal history checks.
Patron - Deeds

Failed

F HB127

Providing alcohol to underaged drinker; penalty. Provides that if a person is found guilty of providing alcohol to an underaged person and the underaged person to whom he provided or assisted in giving alcohol was his child or in his home or under his supervision at the time of the offense, the person shall have his license to operate a motor vehicle suspended for a period of one year. The current penalty for any offender includes license suspension for no more than one year.
Patron - Purkey

F HB266

Alcoholic beverage control; mixed beverage restaurant licensees; liquor sale calculations. Requires the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to establish a system defining a uniform mixed beverage sale price based on volume of spirits sold. Such uniform sale price shall be used solely for the purposes of calculating gross receipts for mixed beverage restaurant licensees pursuant to § 4.1-210.
Patron - Albo

F HB421

Alcoholic beverage control (ABC); privatization of ABC stores. Provides for the issuance of a "package store" license to authorize the retail sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption. The bill also requires the ABC Board to sell at auction all real estate used as ABC stores, and to terminate leased property upon which the ABC Board has operated a government store. The bill requires the ABC Board to complete an implementation study by December 31, 2008, on how it will privatize government stores. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2009, to achieve full retail privatization of government stores. The bill contains numerous technical amendments.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB601

Alcoholic beverage control; local ordinances. Allows localities by ordinance to regulate or prohibit the sale, for off-premises consumption, of single units of alcoholic beverages from their original multi-unit packaging by the manufacturer.
Patron - McClellan

F HB611

Alcoholic beverage control (ABC); privatization of ABC stores. Provides for the issuance of a "package store" license to authorize the retail sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption. The bill also requires the ABC Board to dispose of all real estate used as ABC stores, and to terminate leased property upon which the ABC Board has operated a government store. The bill requires the ABC Board to complete an implementation study by December 31, 2008, on how it will privatize government stores. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2009, to achieve full retail privatization of government stores. The bill provides that persons holding a retail off-premises wine and beer license are eligible to obtain a package store license. The bill contains numerous technical amendments.
Patron - Poisson

F HB696

Alcoholic beverage control; substance abuse treatment. Requires the ABC Board to deduct quarterly five percent from its net profits to be paid into the Substance Abuse Treatment Fund, which fund is created in the bill. The fund shall be administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Resources and money in the fund shall be used solely to support substance abuse treatment programs throughout Virginia.
Patron - Armstrong

F HB740

Underaged drinking; deferred disposition; mitigation. Provides that an underaged drinker who summons law enforcement or medical assistance on behalf of another is eligible for deferred disposition of his case. The bill also provides that a person who provides alcohol to an underaged drinker shall have considered in mitigation the fact that he summoned law enforcement or medical assistance on behalf of another.
Patron - Caputo

F HB862

Alcoholic beverage control; alcohol content in prepared foods. Prohibits the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board from prohibiting an on-premises restaurant licensee from using alcoholic beverages that the licensee otherwise is authorized to purchase and possess for the purposes of preparing and selling for on-premises consumption food products with a final alcohol content of more than one-half of one percent by volume, as long as such food products are sold and consumed by persons who are 21 years of age or older. This bill was incorporated into HB 1075.
Patron - Ebbin

F HB864

Alcoholic beverage control; mixed beverage licenses; local governments and historic buildings. Permits the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to grant annual mixed beverage special events licenses to local governments for use in a building owned by a local government and listed on the National Historic Landmarks Survey.
Patron - Ebbin

F HB1199

Alcoholic beverage control; operation of government stores. Authorizes the ABC Board to sell in government stores magazines or other publications whose principal purpose is to feature and educate the consuming public about the wine industry.
Patron - Valentine

F HB1269

Alcoholic beverage control; prohibited acts by licensees; exceptions. Allows a mixed beverage licensee to make sangria. The bill defines sangria and provides that no mixed beverage licensee is prohibited from pre-mixing containers of sangria to be served and sold in pitchers for consumption on the licensed premises. This bill was incorporated into HB 1075.
Patron - Ebbin

F SB784

Carried Over

C SB294

Grounds for which ABC Board may revoke or suspend license. Eliminates provision that the ABC Board may revoke or suspend a license, other than a brewery license, if it has reasonable cause to believe that the licensee has employed a person who has been convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. The bill limits ABC Board's authority to revoke a license to licensees who employ a person who has violated the laws of the Commonwealth, of any other state, or of the United States, applicable to the manufacture, transportation, possession, use or sale of alcoholic beverages.
Patron - Puller

C SB323

Alcoholic beverage control; mixed beverage restaurant licensee food sale requirement. Changes the gross receipt sale requirement for mixed beverage restaurant licensees. The bill requires licensees' gross receipts from the sale of food cooked or prepared and consumed on the premises and nonalcoholic beverages served on the premises, after issuance of such license, to amount to at least an average of $4,000 per month annually.
Patron - Wagner

C SB366

Alcoholic beverage control; nonresident winery distributor license. Creates a new nonresident winery distributor license that authorizes the licensee to sell and deliver the wine produced by the licensee, in accordance with ABC Board regulations, in closed containers, to (i) persons licensed to sell the wine at retail for the purpose of resale, § 4.1-326 notwithstanding, (ii) the Board, and (iii) persons in Virginia to whom alcoholic beverages may be lawfully sold. The bill provides that, for purposes of § 4.1-234 and Chapter 6 (§ 58.1-600 et seq.) of Title 58.1, each delivery of wine by such licensee to a consumer or a retail licensee shall constitute a sale in Virginia. Licensees are required to collect the taxes due to the Commonwealth and remit any excise taxes monthly to the Board and any sales tax to the Department of Taxation. The bill defines "nonresident winery distributor" as any winery located outside the Commonwealth and licensed as such in the state where the winery is located and whose total wine distribution to all Virginia licensees does not exceed 3,000 cases in any calendar year. The bill also grants these same privileges to certain winery and farm winery licensees. The bill also requires the ABC Board to quarterly audit and inspect all licensees with the privilege of self-distribution to ensure they meet the requirements for the license. The bill sets the state license tax for this new license and requires the ABC Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill eliminates the authority for creation of a nonprofit corporation by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and contains numerous technical corrections to effect such elimination.
Patron - Watkins

C SB601

Alcoholic beverages; underage possession. Changes the penalty for possession of alcoholic beverages by a person under age 21 to a Class 2 misdemeanor (confinement in jail for not more than six months and a fine of not more than $1000, either or both) from a Class 1 misdemeanor (confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both).
Patron - Norment

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2008>Alcoholic Beverage Control Act

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