BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 693

By: Van de Putte

Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Currently, a consumer must provide a valid driver's license or identification card issued by the Department of Public Safety when purchasing alcohol. However, numerous military personnel either stationed in or visiting Texas cannot purchase alcohol because their military identification cards are not acceptable forms of identification.  The current statute also disenfranchises tourists and out-of-state college students by not allowing them to use their states' identification cards to purchase alcohol. 

S.B. 693 amends current law relating to proof of identification falsely representing the age of a minor that is presented by the minor during the purchase of an alcoholic beverage. 

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.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 693 amends the Alcoholic Beverage Code to establish that a person who sells a minor an alcoholic beverage does not commit an offense if the minor falsely represents the minor as 21 years of age or older by displaying an apparently valid proof of identification that contains a physical description and photograph consistent with the minor's appearance, purports to establish that the minor is 21 years of age or older, and was issued by a governmental agency. The bill authorizes the proof of identification to include a driver's license or identification card issued by the Department of Public Safety, a passport, or a military identification card. The bill removes language specifying that the identification be such a driver's license or identification card and be displayed for the purpose of inducing the person to sell the minor an alcoholic beverage.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.