05/01/2019 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE

        SB 16-ALCOHOL LIC:FAIRS,THEATRES,CONCERTS;BONDS                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
4:50:32 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX announced that the  final order of business would                                                               
be  SENATE BILL  NO. 16,  "An Act  relating to  certain alcoholic                                                               
beverage  licenses   and  permits;  and  relating   to  the  bond                                                               
requirement for certain alcoholic beverage license holders."                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
4:51:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
EDRA  MORLEDGE,  Staff,  Senator  Peter  Micciche,  Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature,  presented  SB 16  on  behalf  of Senator  Micciche,                                                               
prime sponsor.   She paraphrased  parts of the  sponsor statement                                                               
[included in  the committee packet],  which read in  its entirety                                                               
as follow [ original punctuation provided]:                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     In 2017,  the Alaska  Alcoholic Beverage  Control (ABC)                                                                    
     Board began  to "crack  down" on alcohol  licenses that                                                                    
     they  deemed  to  not  be  intended  under  state  law,                                                                    
     placing  at risk  several long-time  licenses important                                                                    
     to  the  Alaska  public.  One of  those  license  types                                                                    
     issued  under the  recreational  site  category is  the                                                                    
     license  held  by the  Alaska  State  Fair. The  Alaska                                                                    
     State  Fair and  other businesses  have been  operating                                                                    
     under  the recreational  site license  since 1981,  and                                                                    
     the loss  of the ability  to serve at the  annual event                                                                    
     would  be financially  devastating to  the State  Fair.                                                                    
     Through the legislative  process, we identified several                                                                    
     other  licenses   that  we   believe  should   be  held                                                                    
     harmless,  and   thus  included  them  in   the  latest                                                                    
     committee substitute.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     The  two new  license types  and two  new permit  types                                                                    
     would be added  in to AS 04.11  to specifically include                                                                    
     a performing  arts theater license,  a fair  license, a                                                                    
     concert permit and a music  festival permit. SB 16 also                                                                    
     clarifies that  skiing and snowboarding  activities are                                                                    
     allowable under a recreational  site license, which has                                                                    
     been   historically   permissible   until   2018.   The                                                                    
     legislation also  expands the number of  special events                                                                    
     at  a fraternal  organization, grandfathers  in certain                                                                    
     operators  as of  December 31,  2018,  and provides  an                                                                    
     incentive for  operators that file and  pay their taxes                                                                    
     in a timely manner.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     Although  there   remains  an  effort  to   update  the                                                                    
     remainder of  Alaska's Title  4 alcohol  statutes, this                                                                    
     specific  bill is  designed to  protect the  ability of                                                                    
     our beloved  Alaska State Fair and  other traditionally                                                                    
     licensed  entities to  operate  as they  have for  many                                                                    
     years.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     We believe  that the  public will  be better  served by                                                                    
     specifically clarifying  Title 4  under Senate  Bill 16                                                                    
     to provide  the ability  for the  ABC Board  to license                                                                    
     and    manage   these    specific   applications.    We                                                                    
      respectfully ask for Legislative and public support                                                                       
     for passage of the bill.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX questioned  whether the "save the  fair" bill has                                                               
morphed into a mini omnibus bill.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MS. MORLEDGE  answered yes,  adding that  the business  that were                                                               
included would have lost their license this year.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX suggested that could  be remedied by the addition                                                               
of the grandfather clause.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MS. MORLEDGE  acknowledged that they could  have grandfathered in                                                               
business  that had  valid license  at the  end of  December 2018.                                                               
She noted  that it was  appropriate to separate the  state fair's                                                               
license  to make  it specific  to that  business model  and their                                                               
operation.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
4:56:29 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR WOOL sought clarification  on the grandfather section of                                                               
the bill.  He  asked if it would last for  two years while fixing                                                               
the problem.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. MORLEDGE answered yes.  She  said they were trying to provide                                                               
several different license types that  would be in perpetuity, and                                                               
for the  ones that didn't fit  into neat categories would  get an                                                               
additional two years.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR WOOL  asked if the  Palmer Fair  was the only  fair with                                                               
this problem.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS. MORLEDGE said  they were the only ones singled  out with that                                                               
business model, adding that the  other fairs were operating under                                                               
caterers' licenses.   She said  there was no  way for them  to be                                                               
offered a  license that  would follow  the interpretation  of the                                                               
statute.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
5:00:14 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR WOOL  asked why  the State Fair  can't operate  like the                                                               
others.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MS.  MORLEDGE  replied  that  the  AAMCO  office  was  no  longer                                                               
comfortable  issuing Alaska  State Fair's  license with  multiple                                                               
sites  on  their fair  grounds  under  one recreational  site  or                                                               
caterers' license.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
5:02:17 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. MORLEDGE in a follow-up  question from Representative Stutes,                                                               
acknowledged that these  licenses are renewals not  new ones with                                                               
one  caveat.     She  said  that  the  addition   of  skiing  and                                                               
snowboarding activities to the  recreational site license because                                                               
it was  recommended by the  steering committee and  stake holders                                                               
to not  create a new  license specifically for that  activity but                                                               
to put it with the rest of the sporting activities.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
5:02:58 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX questioned whether 24,  25, and 26 were brand new                                                               
licenses.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
5:03:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. MORLEDGE  explained that the  new one  is line 26,  the music                                                               
festival,  while the  other two  were already  in regulation  and                                                               
being moved into statute.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked if there  had been any music festival                                                               
permits issued in the past.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS.  MORLEDGE answered  no.    She said  they  were issued  under                                                               
catering permits or bending the rules.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
5:04:27 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR LEDOUX announced that SB 16 was held over.