By Brimer H.B. No. 2367
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of package stores.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 22.02, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 22.02 FEE. The annual state fee for a package store
1-7 permit is <$300> $500.
1-8 SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is amended
1-9 by adding Sections 22.13, 22.14, 22.15, 22.16 and 22.17 to read as
1-10 follows:
1-11 Sec. 22.13. AGE OF PACKAGE STORE EMPLOYEES. (a) A package
1-12 store permittee may not knowingly utilize or employ any person
1-13 under the age of 21 to work on the premises of a package store in
1-14 any capacity or to deliver alcohol off the premises of a package
1-15 store.
1-16 (b) This section shall not apply to a person who was under
1-17 the age of 21 and employed by a package store on September 1, 1995.
1-18 (c) This section shall not apply to a person who is the son
1-19 or daughter of an owner of the package store.
1-20 Sec. 22.14. SEPARATE PREMISES REQUIRED. (a) The premises
1-21 of a package store shall be completely separated from the premises
1-22 of other businesses by a solid, opaque wall from floor to ceiling,
1-23 without connecting doors, shared bathroom facilities or shared
2-1 entry foyers.
2-2 (b) The premises of a package store shall have a front door
2-3 through which the public may enter, which opens onto a street,
2-4 parking lot, public sidewalk, or the public area of a mall or
2-5 shopping center.
2-6 (c) For all premises built or first occupied as a package
2-7 store on or after September 1, 1995, the premises of a package
2-8 store shall include:
2-9 (1) a rear or side entrance which opens onto a street,
2-10 parking lot, public sidewalk, or the public area or common area of
2-11 a mall or shopping center, which may be used for receipt and
2-12 processing of merchandise, but which shall in any event serve as an
2-13 emergency exit from the premises, and
2-14 (2) a bathroom which complies with Title III of the
2-15 Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.
2-16 (d) Subsection (a), (b), and (c) of this section shall not
2-17 apply to a package store qualifying for exemption under Sec. 11.50
2-18 or to a package store in a hotel qualifying for exemption under
2-19 Section 109.53.
2-20 (e) The holder of a package store permit may sell
2-21 non-alcohol products and may conduct other lawful business on the
2-22 premises of a package store, but the premises must be closed to
2-23 entry by the general public during all hours in which the sale of
2-24 liquor by a package store is prohibited by law. For purposes of
2-25 this subsection (e), "the general public" shall mean retail
3-1 customers and shall not include vendors, service personnel, and
3-2 other persons entering the premises for purposes other than the
3-3 purchase of goods sold on the premises.
3-4 Sec. 22.15. CONDUCTING SEPARATE BUSINESSES AS A COMMON
3-5 OPERATION. (a) No package store permittee, except for permittees
3-6 wholly owned by the same persons, may conduct business in a manner
3-7 such as to directly or indirectly coordinate their operations with
3-8 another package store as if they shared common ownership. For
3-9 purposes of this section "coordinate their operations as if they
3-10 shared common ownership" includes engaging in any of the following
3-11 practices:
3-12 (1) cooperatively setting prices or credit policies or
3-13 allowing any third party to do so on their behalf;
3-14 (2) sharing advertising;
3-15 (3) utilizing the same tradename, trademark, or slogan
3-16 as another package store in the same county;
3-17 (4) sharing or utilizing the same bookkeeping or
3-18 computer processing service, unless the bookkeeping or computer
3-19 processing service is in the business of providing such services to
3-20 the general public;
3-21 (5) transferring funds, merchandise or equipment from
3-22 one package store business to another;
3-23 (6) utilizing the same person as an employee or
3-24 independent contractor for two or more package store businesses in
3-25 any capacity, unless in the case of an independent contractor the
4-1 independent contractor is in the business of providing similar
4-2 services to the general public;
4-3 (7) negotiating, or allowing a third party to
4-4 negotiate, quantity discounts for alcohol beverages to be purchased
4-5 by the package store business utilizing the sales volume of another
4-6 package store business to increase the discount.
4-7 (b) The prohibition set forth in Subsection (a)(3) above
4-8 regarding tradenames, trademarks, and slogans shall not prevent any
4-9 package store business from utilizing a tradename, trademark, or
4-10 slogan which such business was using on September 1, 1995.
4-11 (c) Before the commission may renew a package store permit,
4-12 an individual who is an owner or officer of the permittee must file
4-13 with the commission a sworn affidavit stating that the permittee
4-14 fully complies with the requirements of this section.
4-15 (d) Any package store permittee who shall be injured in his
4-16 business or property by another package store permittee by reason
4-17 of anything prohibited in this section may institute suit in any
4-18 district court in the county wherein the violation is alleged to
4-19 have occurred to require enforcement by injunctive procedures and
4-20 to recover threefold the damages by him sustained; plus costs of
4-21 suit including a reasonable attorney's fee.
4-22 Sec. 22.16. OWNERSHIP BY PUBLIC CORPORATIONS PROHIBITED.
4-23 (a) A package store permit may not be owned or held by a public
4-24 corporation, or by any entity which is directly or indirectly owned
4-25 or controlled, in whole or in part, by a public corporation, or by
5-1 any entity which would hold the package store permit for the
5-2 benefit of a public corporation.
5-3 (b) For purposes of this section, a public corporation
5-4 means:
5-5 (1) any corporation or other legal entity whose shares
5-6 or other evidence of ownership are listed on a public stock
5-7 exchange, or
5-8 (2) any corporation or other legal entity in which
5-9 more than 35 persons hold an ownership interest in the entity.
5-10 (c) Before the commission may renew a package store permit,
5-11 an individual who is an owner or officer of the permittee must file
5-12 with the commission a sworn affidavit stating that the permittee
5-13 fully complies with the requirements of this section.
5-14 (d) This section shall not apply to a package store located
5-15 in a hotel.
5-16 (e) Any package store permittee who shall be injured in his
5-17 business or property by another package store permittee or by any
5-18 other person by reason of anything prohibited in this section may
5-19 institute suit in any district court in the county wherein the
5-20 violation is alleged to have occurred to require enforcement by
5-21 injunctive procedures and to recover threefold the damages by him
5-22 sustained; plus costs of suit including a reasonable attorney's
5-23 fee.
5-24 Sec. 22.17. COMPARATIVE PRICE ADVERTISING. (a) Any package
5-25 store advertisement or in-store display which compares one package
6-1 store's price for a product with the price charged by any other
6-2 package store must conform with the requirements of this section.
6-3 (b) The prices compared must be for the same brand, product,
6-4 size, proof, and for the same date of sale. The prices must be
6-5 verified by actual survey of the stores being compared, and may not
6-6 utilize prices for dates more than one week prior to the ad
6-7 publication date. The ad must clearly state for all prices
6-8 compared whether the businesses named in the ad have comparable
6-9 policies regarding acceptance of credit cards, and whether the
6-10 prices are different if payment is made by credit card or cash. A
6-11 competitor's normal "everyday" price may only be compared with the
6-12 advertiser's normal "everyday" price, and weekend or other
6-13 "special" prices may only be compared with other weekend or
6-14 "special" prices.
6-15 (c) Any package store permittee who is injured by any other
6-16 package store permittee as a result of a violation of this section,
6-17 or by a package store permittee who otherwise utilizes comparative
6-18 price advertising which creates a false or misleading impression to
6-19 the public, may bring suit in any district court to recover treble
6-20 damages, attorney's fees, and costs of court from the offending
6-21 package store permittee.
6-22 SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect September
6-23 1, 1995.
6-24 SECTION 4. Emergency. The importance of this legislation
6-25 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-4 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
7-5 terms, and it is so enacted.