BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 115

By: Ortega

Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Large urban counties, specifically Harris and El Paso, report that some establishments evade legal restrictions on the public consumption of alcohol after 2:15 a.m. by claiming that they operate as bring-your-own-beverage bars, which are not licensed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). It has also been reported that law enforcement has difficulty stopping such activity because the establishments are not licensed by the TABC, and because, while the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code makes it clear it is illegal for businesses to allow people to consume alcohol on their premises after 2:15 a.m., the code does not make clear that this prohibition applies to both licensed and unlicensed establishments. C.S.H.B. 115 seeks to address this issue by specifying that the prohibition on the consumption of alcohol during certain hours applies to all public places, including unlicensed and unpermitted premises.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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

C.S.H.B. 115 amends the Alcoholic Beverage Code to make applicable to an unlicensed or unpermitted premises to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access the prohibition on the public consumption of alcoholic beverages during certain hours. The bill applies only to an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date. The bill provides for the continuation of the law in effect before the bill's effective date for purposes of an offense, or any element thereof, that occurred before that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 115 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

While both the introduced and the substitute include an unlicensed and unpermitted premises among the public places in which it is an offense to consume or possess with the intent to consume an alcoholic beverage during certain hours, the substitute clarifies that the bill applies to those premises that are not licensed or permitted specifically under the Alcoholic Beverage Code. The substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced referencing the existing Penal Code definition of public place as any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access.