NDT C.S.H.B. 251 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS LICENSING & ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES C.S.H.B. 251 By: H. Cuellar 3-24-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Texas law prohibits distributors of imported beer, ale, and malt liquor from storing these products in Texas when they are to be sold out of state. This situation causes great inconvenience to people importing these goods from Mexico, for sale in states other than Texas. PURPOSE This bill would create a liquor license for the storage of imported beer, ale, and malt liquor. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS Section 1: Amends Subtitle B, Title 3, Alcoholic Beverage Code by adding Chapter 75 as follows: Chapter 75. STORAGE LICENSE Section 75.01. Authorized Activities. a) Authorizes a storage license holder to import beer, ale, and malt liquor and to store these goods in a county in which a manufacturer's warehouse license is in effect; limits the permit to storage only in a wet area (as defined by Section 251.71); makes the permit available only to a person with an out-of-state manufacturer's license or brewer's permit; states that the permit is only for goods for sale outside the state. b) Provides that only those with carrier permits may transport these goods, and that all provisions of Chapter 41 apply under this chapter. Section 75.02. Records. a) Requires that each storage license holder make and keep daily records of transactions; provides that the administrator or commission may require that other records also be made and kept. b) Requires that all records be available for the commission's inspection for at least four years. c) Provides that failing to keep records, falsifying an entry, or failing to make an entry is each a violation of this code. Section 75.03. Premises. Prevents the storage license holder from sharing the storage space with other license holders; specifies that the storage license holder may not designate a portion of the space for exclusion under Section 11.49(b). Section 75.04. Fee. Provides that the annual fee for a storage license is $200. Section 75.05. Licensing. States that the licensing provisions of Chapter 61 apply to storage licenses, except for Sections 61.42(a)(5) and (8); allows the commission or administrator to suspend a license for up to 60 days, if after notice and hearing it is determined that during either that license period or the one immediately before, the license holder violated a provision of this code or a rule of the commission. Section 2: Amends Section 61.31(a), Alcoholic Beverage Code by adding the activity of storage to the list of licenses for which a person may apply. Section 3: Effective date: September 1, 1997. Section 4: Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute allows for the holder of a custom broker's license issued under 19 U.S.C. Section 1641(b) to import and store beer, ale, and malt liquor in a county with a population of 200,000 or less that borders the United Mexican States, the original did not provide for this.