By: Armbrister S.B. No. 1063
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the regulation of package stores.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Section 22.02, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
1-4 amended to read as follows:
1-5 Sec. 22.02. FEE. The annual state fee for a package store
1-6 permit is $500 <$300>.
1-7 SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is amended
1-8 by adding Sections 22.13, 22.14, 22.15, 22.16, and 22.17 to read as
1-9 follows:
1-10 Sec. 22.13. AGE OF PACKAGE STORE EMPLOYEES. (a) A package
1-11 store permittee may not knowingly utilize or employ any person
1-12 under the age of 21 to work on the premises of a package store in
1-13 any capacity or to deliver alcohol off the premises of a package
1-14 store.
1-15 (b) This section shall not apply to a person who was under
1-16 the age of 21 and employed by a package store on September 1, 1995.
1-17 (c) This section shall not apply to a person who is the son
1-18 or daughter of an owner of the package store.
1-19 Sec. 22.14. SEPARATE PREMISES REQUIRED. (a) The premises
1-20 of a package store shall be completely separated from the premises
1-21 of other businesses by a solid, opaque wall from floor to ceiling,
1-22 without connecting doors, shared bathroom facilities, or shared
1-23 entry foyers.
2-1 (b) The premises of a package store shall have a front door
2-2 through which the public may enter which opens onto a street,
2-3 parking lot, public sidewalk, or the public area of a mall or
2-4 shopping center.
2-5 (c) For all premises built or first occupied as a package
2-6 store on or after September 1, 1995, the premises of a package
2-7 store shall include:
2-8 (1) a rear or side entrance which opens onto a street,
2-9 parking lot, public sidewalk, or the public area or common area of
2-10 a mall or shopping center, which may be used for receipt and
2-11 processing of merchandise but which shall in any event serve as an
2-12 emergency exit from the premises; and
2-13 (2) a bathroom which complies with Title III of the
2-14 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (42 U.S.C.
2-15 Section 12101 et seq.).
2-16 (d) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall not apply to a
2-17 package store that qualifies for exemption under Section 11.50 or
2-18 to a package store in a hotel that qualifies for exemption under
2-19 Section 102.05.
2-20 (e) The holder of a package store permit may sell
2-21 nonalcoholic 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, "the general public" shall mean retail customers
3-1 and shall not include vendors, service personnel, and other persons
3-2 entering the premises for purposes other than the purchase of goods
3-3 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 so as to directly or indirectly coordinate operations with another
3-8 package store as if they shared common ownership. For purposes of
3-9 this section, "coordinate operations as if they shared common
3-10 ownership" includes engaging in any of the following practices:
3-11 (1) cooperatively setting prices or credit policies or
3-12 allowing any third party to do so on their behalf;
3-13 (2) sharing advertising;
3-14 (3) utilizing the same trade name, trademark, or
3-15 slogan as another package store in the same county;
3-16 (4) sharing or utilizing the same bookkeeping or
3-17 computer-processing service, unless the bookkeeping or
3-18 computer-processing service is in the business of providing such
3-19 services to the general public;
3-20 (5) transferring funds, merchandise, or equipment from
3-21 one package store business to another;
3-22 (6) utilizing the same person as an employee or
3-23 independent contractor for two or more package store businesses in
3-24 any capacity, unless, in the case of an independent contractor, the
3-25 independent contractor is in the business of providing similar
4-1 services to the general public; and
4-2 (7) negotiating, or allowing a third party to
4-3 negotiate, quantity discounts for alcoholic beverages to be
4-4 purchased by the package store business utilizing the sales volume
4-5 of another package store business to increase the discount.
4-6 (b) The prohibition set forth in Subsection (a)(3) regarding
4-7 trade names, trademarks, and slogans shall not prevent any package
4-8 store business from utilizing a trade name, trademark, or slogan
4-9 which the business was using on September 1, 1995.
4-10 (c) Before the commission may renew a package store permit,
4-11 an individual who is an owner or officer of the permittee must file
4-12 with the commission a sworn affidavit stating that the permittee
4-13 fully complies with the requirements of this section.
4-14 (d) Any package store permittee who is injured in his
4-15 business or property by another package store permittee by reason
4-16 of anything prohibited in this section may institute suit in any
4-17 district court in the county where the violation is alleged to have
4-18 occurred to require enforcement by injunctive procedures and to
4-19 recover triple damages plus costs of suit including reasonable
4-20 attorney's fees.
4-21 Sec. 22.16. OWNERSHIP BY PUBLIC CORPORATIONS PROHIBITED.
4-22 (a) A package store permit may not be owned or held by a public
4-23 corporation, or by any entity which is directly or indirectly owned
4-24 or controlled, in whole or in part, by a public corporation, or by
4-25 any entity which would hold the package store permit for the
5-1 benefit of a public corporation.
5-2 (b) For purposes of this section, a public corporation
5-3 means:
5-4 (1) any corporation or other legal entity whose shares
5-5 or other evidence of ownership are listed on a public stock
5-6 exchange; or
5-7 (2) any corporation or other legal entity in which
5-8 more than 35 persons hold an ownership interest in the entity.
5-9 (c) Before the commission may renew a package store permit,
5-10 an individual who is an owner or officer of the permittee must file
5-11 with the commission a sworn affidavit stating that the permittee
5-12 fully complies with the requirements of this section.
5-13 (d) This section shall not apply to a package store located
5-14 in a hotel.
5-15 (e) Any package store permittee who is injured in his
5-16 business or property by another package store permittee or by any
5-17 other person by reason of anything prohibited in this section may
5-18 institute suit in any district court in the county where the
5-19 violation is alleged to have occurred to require enforcement by
5-20 injunctive procedures and to recover triple damages plus costs of
5-21 suit including reasonable attorney's fees.
5-22 Sec. 22.17. COMPARATIVE PRICE ADVERTISING. (a) Any package
5-23 store advertisement or in-store display which compares one package
5-24 store's price for a product with the price charged by any other
5-25 package store must conform with the requirements of this section.
6-1 (b) The prices compared must be for the same brand, product,
6-2 size, and proof and for the same date of sale. The prices must be
6-3 verified by actual survey of the stores being compared and may not
6-4 utilize prices for dates more than one week prior to the
6-5 publication date of the advertisement. The advertisement must
6-6 clearly state, for all prices compared, whether the businesses
6-7 named in the advertisement have comparable policies regarding
6-8 acceptance of credit cards and whether the prices are different if
6-9 payment is made by credit card or cash. A competitor's normal
6-10 everyday price may only be compared with the advertiser's normal
6-11 everyday price, and weekend or other special prices may only be
6-12 compared with other weekend or special prices.
6-13 (c) Any package store permittee who is injured by any other
6-14 package store permittee as a result of a violation of this section
6-15 or by a package store permittee who otherwise utilizes comparative
6-16 price advertising which creates a false or misleading impression to
6-17 the public may bring suit in any district court to recover triple
6-18 damages, attorney's fees, and costs of court from the offending
6-19 package store permittee.
6-20 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-21 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-1 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
7-2 terms, and it is so enacted.