S.B. No. 1063
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 employed
1-18 by the person's parent or legal guardian to work in a package store
1-19 that is owned by the parent or legal guardian.
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, as amended (42 U.S.C.
2-16 Section 12101 et seq.).
2-17 (d) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall not apply to a
2-18 package store that qualifies for exemption under Section 11.50 or
2-19 to a package store in a hotel that qualifies for exemption under
2-20 Section 102.05.
2-21 (e) The holder of a package store permit may sell
2-22 nonalcoholic products and may conduct other lawful business on the
2-23 premises of a package store, but the premises must be closed to
2-24 entry by the general public during all hours in which the sale of
2-25 liquor by a package store is prohibited by law. For purposes of
3-1 this subsection, "the general public" shall mean retail customers
3-2 and shall not include vendors, service personnel, and other persons
3-3 entering the premises for purposes other than the purchase of goods
3-4 sold on the premises.
3-5 Sec. 22.15. CONDUCTING SEPARATE BUSINESSES AS A COMMON
3-6 OPERATION. (a) No package store permittee, except for permittees
3-7 wholly owned by the same persons, may conduct business in a manner
3-8 so as to directly or indirectly coordinate operations with another
3-9 package store as if they shared common ownership. For purposes of
3-10 this section, "coordinate operations as if they shared common
3-11 ownership" includes engaging in any of the following 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 trade name, trademark, or
3-16 slogan 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
3-19 computer-processing service is in the business of providing such
3-20 services to 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; and
4-3 (7) negotiating, or allowing a third party to
4-4 negotiate, quantity discounts for alcoholic beverages to be
4-5 purchased by the package store business utilizing the sales volume
4-6 of another package store business to increase the discount.
4-7 (b) The prohibition set forth in Subsection (a)(3) regarding
4-8 trade names, trademarks, and slogans shall not prevent any package
4-9 store business from utilizing a trade name, trademark, or slogan
4-10 which the 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 is 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 where the violation is alleged to have
4-19 occurred to require enforcement by injunctive procedures and to
4-20 recover triple damages plus costs of suit including reasonable
4-21 attorney's fees.
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 is 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 where the
5-20 violation is alleged to have occurred to require enforcement by
5-21 injunctive procedures and to recover triple damages plus costs of
5-22 suit including reasonable attorney's fees.
5-23 (f) This section shall not apply to a corporation:
5-24 (1) which was a public corporation as defined by this
5-25 section on April 28, 1995; and
6-1 (2) which holds a package store permit on April 28,
6-2 1995, or which has an application pending for a package store
6-3 permit on April 28, 1995; and
6-4 (3) which has provided to the commission on or before
6-5 December 31, 1995, a sworn affidavit stating that such corporation
6-6 satisfies the requirements of Subdivisions (1) and (2).
6-7 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-8 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
6-14 terms, and it is so enacted.