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SENATE BILL 466
57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2025
INTRODUCED BY
Antonio Maestas
AN ACT
RELATING TO LIQUOR; REDUCING THE RENEWAL FEES FOR A TYPE B
RESTAURANT LICENSE; REMOVING THE RESTRICTION ON THE NUMBER OF
DRINKS ALLOWED PER CUSTOMER; ALLOWING HOLDERS OF RESTAURANT A
LICENSES TO OBTAIN RESTAURANT A NEW MEXICO SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS
PERMITS WITHOUT HAVING TO BE IN GOOD STANDING FOR A PERIOD OF
TWELVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS; PROVIDING FOR LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT
ZONES; CREATING A RESTAURANT C LICENSE; DELETING RESTRICTIONS
REGARDING LICENSEE PROXIMITY TO CHURCHES; REDUCING CERTAIN
PERMIT FEES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 60-6A-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981,
Chapter 39, Section 21, as amended) is amended to read:
"60-6A-4. RESTAURANT LICENSE.--
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A. A local option district may approve the issuance
of restaurant licenses for the sale of beer and wine by holding
an election on that question pursuant to the procedures set out
in Section 60-5A-1 NMSA 1978. The election also may be
initiated by a resolution adopted by the governing body of the
local option district without a petition from qualified
electors having been submitted.
B. A local option district that has approved the
issuance of restaurant licenses for the sale of beer and wine
is deemed to have approved the issuance of restaurant licenses
for the sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquors in
restaurants unless the local option district affirmatively
adopts an ordinance prohibiting such licenses, except that a
local option district within a class B county having a
population of between fifty-six thousand and fifty-seven
thousand according to the 1980 federal decennial census that
has approved the issuance of restaurant licenses for the sale
of beer and wine is deemed not to have approved the issuance of
restaurant licenses for the sale of beer, wine and spirituous
liquors in restaurants unless the local option district
affirmatively adopts an ordinance approving such licenses.
C. A restaurant license issued or renewed on or
after July 1, [2021] 2025 that permits the sale and service of
beer, [and] wine and spirituous liquors produced or bottled by
or for a craft distiller pursuant to Section 60-6A-6.1 NMSA
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1978 only shall be designated a restaurant A license. The
license shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of
this section and rules adopted by the department.
D. A restaurant license issued on or after July 1,
2021 that permits the sale and service of beer, wine and
spirituous liquors shall be designated a restaurant B license.
The license shall be issued in accordance with the provisions
of this section and rules adopted by the department.
E. A restaurant license issued or renewed on or
after July 1, 2025 that permits the sale and service of beer
and wine only shall be designated a restaurant C license. The
license shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of
this section and rules adopted by the department.
[E.] F. After the approval of restaurant licenses
by the qualified electors of the local option district for the
sale of beer and wine and upon completion of all requirements
in the Liquor Control Act for the issuance of licenses, a
restaurant located or to be located within the local option
district may receive a restaurant A license to sell, serve or
allow the consumption of beer, [and ] wine and spirituous
liquors produced or bottled by or for a craft distiller
pursuant to Section 60-6A-6.1 NMSA 1978; a restaurant B license
to sell, serve or allow the consumption of beer, wine and
spirituous liquors; or a restaurant C license to sell, serve or
allow the consumption of beer and wine subject to the following
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requirements and restrictions:
(1) the applicant shall submit evidence to the
department that the applicant has a current valid food service
establishment permit;
(2) the applicant shall satisfy the director
that the primary source of revenue from the operation of the
restaurant will be derived from food and not from the sale of
beer and wine;
(3) the director shall condition renewal upon
a requirement that no less than sixty percent of gross receipts
from the preceding twelve months' operation of the licensed
restaurant was derived from the sale of food;
(4) upon application for renewal, the licensee
shall submit an annual report to the director indicating the
annual gross receipts from the sale of food and from beer and
wine sales;
(5) all sales, services and consumption of
beer and wine authorized by a restaurant A license shall cease
at the time food sales and services cease or at 11:00 p.m.,
whichever time is earlier; and
[(6) if Sunday sales have been approved in the
local option district, a restaurant licensee may serve beer and
wine on Sundays until the time meal sales and services cease or
11:00 p.m., whichever time is earlier; and
(7)] (6) a restaurant A license, restaurant B
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license and restaurant C license shall not be transferable from
person to person but shall be transferable from one location to
another location within the same local option district.
[F. Upon completion of all requirements in the
Liquor Control Act for the issuance of licenses on and after
July 1, 2021, and barring the adoption of an opt-out ordinance
by the governing body of a local option district, a restaurant
located or to be located within the local option district may
receive a restaurant B license to sell, serve or allow the
consumption of beer, wine and spirituous liquors subject to the
following requirements and restrictions:
(1) the applicant shall submit evidence to the
department that the applicant has a current valid food service
establishment permit;
(2) the applicant shall satisfy the director
that the primary source of revenue from the operation of the
restaurant will be derived from the sale of food and not from
the sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquors;
(3) the director shall condition renewal upon
a requirement that no less than sixty percent of gross receipts
from the preceding twelve months' operation of the licensed
restaurant was derived from the sale of food;
(4) upon application for renewal, the licensee
shall submit an annual report to the director indicating the
annual gross receipts from the sale of food and from beer, wine
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and spirituous liquors sales;
(5) all sales, service and consumption of
beer, wine and spirituous liquors authorized by a restaurant B
license shall cease at the time food sales and services cease
or at 11:00 p.m., whichever time is earlier;
(6) a restaurant B licensee shall serve a
single patron no more than three drinks containing not more
than one and one-half ounces of spirituous liquor during any
one visit to the restaurant;
(7) if Sunday sales have been approved in the
local option district, a restaurant B licensee may serve beer,
wine and spirituous liquors on Sundays until the time meal
sales and services cease or 11:00 p.m., whichever time is
earlier; and
(8) a restaurant B license shall not be
transferable from person to person but shall be transferable
from one location to another location within the same local
option district.]
G. The provisions of Section 60-6A-18 NMSA 1978
shall not apply to restaurant licenses.
H. Nothing in this section shall prevent a
restaurant licensee from receiving other licenses pursuant to
the Liquor Control Act.
[I. A person that has held a restaurant A license
in good standing for a period of at least twelve consecutive
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months shall, upon payment of a fee of five hundred dollars
($500), be entitled to a restaurant A New Mexico spirituous
liquors permit. In addition to being permitted to sell and
serve beer and wine as authorized by a restaurant A license,
the restaurant A New Mexico spirituous liquors permit shall
entitle the licensee to also sell and serve spirituous liquors
produced or bottled by or for a craft distiller pursuant to
Section 60-6A-6.1 NMSA 1978. ]"
SECTION 2. Section 60-6A-15 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981,
Chapter 39, Section 32, as amended) is amended to read:
"60-6A-15. LICENSE AND PERMIT FEES.--Except for calendar
years 2022 through 2031 for license holders who purchased their
license during the calendar years 2017 through 2021, who shall
be charged no fee for the issuance or renewal of a license,
every application for the issuance or renewal of the following
licenses and permits shall be accompanied by a fee in the
following specified amounts:
A. manufacturer's license as a distiller, except a
brandy manufacturer, three thousand dollars ($3,000);
B. manufacturer's license as a brewer, three
thousand dollars ($3,000);
C. manufacturer's license as a rectifier, one
thousand fifty dollars ($1,050);
D. wholesaler's license to sell all alcoholic
beverages for resale only, two thousand five hundred dollars
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($2,500);
E. wholesaler's license to sell spirituous liquors
and wine for resale only, one thousand seven hundred fifty
dollars ($1,750);
F. wholesaler's license to sell spirituous liquors
for resale only, one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500);
G. wholesaler's license to sell beer and wine for
resale only, one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500);
H. wholesaler's license to sell beer for resale
only, one thousand dollars ($1,000);
I. wholesaler's license to sell wine for resale
only, seven hundred fifty dollars ($750);
J. retailer's license, one thousand three hundred
dollars ($1,300);
K. dispenser's license, one thousand three hundred
dollars ($1,300);
L. canopy license, one thousand three hundred
dollars ($1,300);
M. restaurant A license, [one thousand fifty
dollars ($1,050)] one thousand five hundred fifty dollars
($1,550);
N. restaurant B license, ten thousand dollars
($10,000) for the first year and six thousand dollars ($6,000)
for subsequent years;
O. restaurant C license, one thousand fifty dollars
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($1,050);
[O.] P. club license, for clubs with more than two
hundred fifty members, one thousand two hundred fifty dollars
($1,250), and for clubs with two hundred fifty members or
fewer, two hundred fifty dollars ($250);
[P.] Q. wine bottler's license to sell to
wholesalers only, five hundred dollars ($500);
[Q.] R. public service license, one thousand two
hundred fifty dollars ($1,250);
[R.] S. nonresident licenses, for a total billing
to New Mexico wholesalers:
(1) in excess of:
$3,000,000 annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,500;
1,000,000 annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,250;
500,000 annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,750;
200,000 annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,700;
100,000 annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,800;
and
50,000 annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900;
and
(2) of $50,000 or less . . . . . . . . . $300;
[S.] T. wine wholesaler's license, for persons with
sales of five thousand gallons of wine per year or less,
twenty-five dollars ($25.00), and for persons with sales in
excess of five thousand gallons of wine per year, one hundred
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dollars ($100);
[T.] U. beer bottler's license, two hundred dollars
($200);
[U.] V. third-party alcohol delivery license, not
to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000);
[V.] W. alcoholic beverage delivery permit, not to
exceed three hundred dollars ($300); and
[W.] X. retailer's, dispenser's or canopy licenses,
if the licensee held the license on June 30, 2021, there shall
be no renewal fee for applications filed by the licensee or
successor licensees on or before June 30, 2026."
SECTION 3. A new section of the Liquor Control Act is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT ZONES.--
A. The governing body of any county or municipality
may, by ordinance or resolution, create and designate an
"entertainment zone" within its jurisdiction.
B. The designation of an entertainment zone shall
be based on the governing body's determination that the area is
suitable for leisure, arts, culture and entertainment
activities, as evidenced by a concentration of restaurants,
bars, theaters, music venues and other entertainment-related
businesses. An entertainment zone designation shall include a
clearly defined geographic boundary in the creation ordinance
or resolution.
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C. Notwithstanding any limitations set forth by the
Liquor Control Act, within any entertainment zone, the
governing body may adopt its own regulations governing the
public purchase, possession and consumption of alcohol,
including open container allowances, hours of operation and
licensing provisions.
D. An establishment within an entertainment zone
that sells or serves alcoholic beverages must comply with all
applicable Liquor Control Act licensing requirements and any
additional conditions imposed by the governing body."
SECTION 4. REPEAL.--Section 60-6B-10 NMSA 1978 (being
Laws 1981, Chapter 39, Section 45, as amended) is repealed.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is July 1, 2025.
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