HB 265-LIQUOR LICENSES; RESTAURANTS/MOTELS  3:57:05 PM CHAIR KITO announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 265, "An Act relating to the renewal of a license involving alcoholic beverages; and relating to the transfer or issuance of a beverage dispensary license or a restaurant or eating place license." 3:57:31 PM REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE RAUSCHER, Alaska State Legislature, introduced HB 265 as prime sponsor. He explained the proposed bill would make three strategic changes to alcoholic beverage licensing to improve the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board. First, it would modify the opening hours requirements for club licenses. It would create a level playing field for businesses that serve tourists on the road systems. The proposed bill would establish a grandfather clause for the holder of a tourism license to improve the ownership transfer procedures. He continued that club licenses affect Lions Clubs, Elks Clubs, and non-profits. He explained the current statute requires them to be open 30 days each calendar year for a full eight hours each day. The proposed bill would require a total of 240 hours in the year. He specified that HB 265 would limit roadhouses to 25 miles outside an incorporated city or unified borough. 4:00:05 PM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked for a sectional analysis of HB 265. 4:00:20 PM DARRELL BREESE, Staff, Representative George Rauscher, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Rauscher, prime sponsor, answered that there was an explanation of changes in the proposed bill, but there was no sectional analysis at present. 4:00:50 PM CHAIR KITO held over HB 265 to receive additional information from staff. [The bill was taken up again later in the meeting.] HB 265-LIQUOR LICENSES; RESTAURANTS/MOTELS  5:17:15 PM CHAIR KITO announced that the final order of business would be a return to HOUSE BILL NO. 265, "An Act relating to the renewal of a license involving alcoholic beverages; and relating to the transfer or issuance of a beverage dispensary license or a restaurant or eating place license." 5:17:38 PM DARRELL BREESE, Staff, Representative George Rauscher, Alaska State Legislature, presented HB 265 on behalf of Representative Rauscher. He explained the proposed bill grandfathered in all licenses from the time they were issued. He added that of the list of 34 licenses that were in jeopardy, 9 of them were issued after 1985 and would still be in jeopardy. The proposed bill would grandfather all licenses at the number of rooms it had at the time of licensing. There was also a change for the club licenses, which currently had to be open for 30 8-hour days each calendar year. With the new legislation, that would change to a cumulative 240 hours in the calendar year, which could be broken up into 2- or 4-hour blocks. He stated club license owners can serve alcohol only to club members, so allowing them to adjust their hours to fit their needs would be useful as it would prevent them from being penalized at the time of renewal for not meeting the 30 8-hour day requirement. 5:21:17 PM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES stated she was concerned about a statement in the previous presentation saying the intent was to level the playing field between clubs and dispensaries. MR. BREESE apologized for the confusion and explained that he had been referring to levelling the playing field in the roadhouse license issue. He gave the example of the Long Rifle Lodge, which has a tourism license and has 10 rooms. With the law as it was currently being interpreted, the lodge would have to have 50 rooms as the board was looking at the Matanuska population as a whole. The proposed bill created the language for a roadhouse license requiring only 10 rooms. The new language would also enable a new business across the highway from the Long Rifle Lodge to "make a go of it" if it can meet the requirement of 10 rooms. He explained that was where the playing field would be levelled. REPRESENTATIVE STUTES surmised the intent was that the new lodge would have their licenses issued under the same conditions as "the guy across the street." MR. BREESE replied in the affirmative. 5:23:55 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked whether HB 301 would allow the hypothetical new lodge to have fewer than 50 rooms. 5:24:41 PM MR. BREESE explained the proposed bill's definition of roadhouses was those located 25 miles outside an incorporated city or unified borough and on a national scenic byway. This would include Seward Highway, Parks Highway, Glen Highway, and Richardson Highway, which were all codified in national law. He stated the Long Rifle Lodge was located 46 miles outside Palmer, adding it was in the Matanuska-Susitna borough, but the borough was not a unified borough. 5:25:55 PM CHAIR KITO offered that the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) was also considered a scenic byway. He asked how it was affected by HB 301. 5:26:13 PM MR. BREESE answered the national scenic byway started once one left port and there was no way for someone to build in the water. He added that Haines Highway was also on the national scenic byway list but was within the unified borough of Haines and therefore construction would not be allowed. 5:26:42 PM REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked why the proposed legislation exempted unified boroughs. MR. BREESE answered it was because unified boroughs generally had a single seat of government and it did not make sense to include them, because the city boundaries were typically the same as the unified borough. 5:27:27 PM CHAIR KITO said he would open public testimony on HB 265 but not hear testimony as the meeting had to adjourn. He said he would leave public testimony open. CHAIR KITO held over HB 265.