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.