Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/27/1998 08:10 AM Senate FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE BILL NO. 233
"An Act extending the termination date of the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Board."
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 233(FIN)
"An Act relating to membership on the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Board; extending the termination date
of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board; relating to
sales of beer and wine on a golf course or at a
recreational site; relating to notice of alcohol-
related arrests; and providing for an effective date."
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 233(RLS)
"An Act extending the termination date of the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Board; allowing sales of beer and wine
by a holder of a recreational site license while
recreation is occurring; defining 'recreational site';
defining 'golf course'; and providing for an effective
date."
She then called SB 233 and explained the new work draft
version "E". She said the sunset date would be the year
2002 and it would establish a new license for the golf
course.
Senator Phillips MOVED CSSB 233, version "E" dated 3/20/98.
Senators Donley and Adams OBJECTED.
Douglas B. Griffin, Director, Alcoholic Beverage Control
Board, Department of Revenue testified via teleconference
from Anchorage. He advised the committee that Legislative
Budget and Audit came back with a recommendation that they
be continued. Three findings in the audit were: (1) the
Board did not take into consideration neighborhood concerns
regarding license action;
(Tape #102, Side B switched to Tape #103, Side A.)
...(2) working closely with government and other State
agencies; and (3) providing more teleconference access to
ABC meetings. Moving on to the golf course issue, he said
there was a separate bill on the House side, sponsored by
the House Labor and Commerce Committee, HB 458, which did
create a new type of license for golf courses. Many golf
courses around the State did have various types of liquor
licenses and generally it entailed a restaurant/eating
license to be able to serve beer and wine in the clubhouse.
Some also had package store licenses to be able to sell
alcoholic beverages to take out onto the course. He said
the House Labor and Commerce Committee had convinced its'
chairman, Representative Norm Rokeberg, to accommodate golf
courses with a specialized license. He further noted they
had worked closely with the House Labor and Commerce
Committee to improve the bill, however, the ABC board is
opposed to the golf course license part because it creates a
type of license that is not needed. The ABC board is
opposed to bringing new licenses in, because in most
jurisdictions in the State there are more licenses than the
statutory quota as set forth. He said they would,
therefore, have some problems with the add-on to the sunset
bill.
Senator Phillips asked the witness to be more specific as
far as the golf course. Was there a particular golf course
that was interested in doing this? Mr. Griffin said the
Palmer Golf Course was the unique golf course. Senator
Phillips said he understood.
Senator Torgerson asked if there were other golf courses
that were interested in this bill. Mr. Griffin further
concurred. He did not have a copy of the Senate CS before
him but with regards to the House CSHB 458, latest version,
it would apply to any golf course of a certain length. He
said this again reverted back to the ABC board concern of
creating more licenses.
Senator Donley asked if the municipality owned the liquor
license or if the contractor did? Mr. Griffin commented and
said the contractor or manager owned the liquor license.
Co-chair Pearce asked how they sold liquor. Mr. Griffin
said they wanted to sell liquor to those to take around the
golf course. Presently at the Palmer golf course alcohol
cannot be carried off the deck from the clubhouse. He said
they advised the golf course they could get where they
wanted to go by having a license for a package store on the
premise. There is no law for prohibition of public
consumption.
In response to a query from Co-chair Pearce, Mr. Griffin
said if there was a package store license on the premise
that would allow for the sale and then the individual could
take their purchase out on the course. He said the
Anchorage golf course had a package store license and allows
for the sale.
Senator Phillips asked if "Moose Run" was the same? Mr.
Griffin advised that the military was not under their
jurisdiction, same as Elmendorf course.
Senator Torgerson asked if there was another license that
would only authorize the sale of beer after a tournament or
during a tournament? Mr. Griffin said there was a
recreational license available that one could obtain during
a tournament. However, it was restrictive. Senator
Torgerson indicated that the golf course in Soldotna was
interested but they did not want to have a package store.
They just want to be able to serve all the time rather than
just during the tournaments. The Senator asked if the
language could be changed to authorize the sale within some
kind of recreational portion of the course? Mr. Griffin
said they could do the same as the Palmer golf course, by
obtaining a restaurant/eating place license. It may have to
be done under a public convenience situation, however.
Senator Donley asked about the findings of the audit. He
voiced his concern on recommendation #1 and said the
affected neighborhood's objections were not being heard. He
noted a duality of responsibility between the government and
the board. He said his neighborhoods were very unhappy with
this process of where they strongly object to the assembly,
however, they do not consider what the neighborhoods
recommend, but rather only what the assembly recommends. He
suggested the board should have the responsibility for
considering the neighborhood concerns and to balance out the
problem.
A further concern of Senator Donley's was the structure of
the board consisting of three public members and two
industry members. However, one public member position had
been vacant since 31 January of last year. That resulted in
a two-two vote. Perhaps this was biased. He suggested
filling the vacant position. Concerning illegal gambling
he felt the board was not receiving information to be able
to enforce mandatory penalties now in statute. This should
be addressed before the sunset date expires.
Co-chair Pearce voiced concern over pages 18 and 19. She
said she did not condone this behavior of State
investigators being licensed to carry firearms. If an
investigator felt they needed armed security then they
should take along the police.
Don Dapcevich, Executive Director, Governor's Advisory Board
on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Department of Health and
Social Services was invited to join the committee. He said
it was counter-productive to make or encourage alcohol a
part of sports. He could not understand why the bill was
being advanced.
Co-chair Pearce noted the presence of Senator Sharp. He
said he knew of very few golf courses in the Lower '48 that
would not allow this. He explained that this bill is only
applicable to golf courses that were fenced. He thought it
was a far stretch to say beer and wine drinking on a golf
course would lead to DWI. Further, he stated, in order to
attract charity tournaments, those paying $100 to
participate would like to have a cold beer.
Mr. Dapcevich said the DWI incidents were mentioned in
previous testimony given with HB 458. They would like to
have the license in order to be able to better control
DWI's.
Senator Sharp asked if military base golf courses were
required to have liquor licenses to sell beer or wine on
their courses? Mr. Dapcevich said the military base courses
were exempt from licenses issued by the State. They have
their own rules regarding licensing. He has also played
golf on many courses that do not allow drinking, especially
municipal courses. When there is a tournament they apply
for a special day license.
Senator Phillips WITHDREW his motion to ADOPT CSSB 233,
version "E".
Senator Sharp MOVED CSSB 233. Senator Adams OBJECTED. He
said he objected to the inclusion of golf courses in this
bill. It should be a separate issue or taken up with HB
458.
Co-chair Pearce ordered an at ease at approximately 10:15
a.m. She called the committee back to order at 10:20 a.m.
Senator Sharp MOVED to WITHDRAW the motion to ADOPT CSSB
233. Co-chair Pearce HELD the bill in committee while
Senators Sharp and Donley worked on some proposed
amendments.
Co-chair Pearce called SB 263.
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