Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1035 Compare Versions

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1	1	83R25381 MCK-D
2	2	By: Carona S.B. No. 1035
3	3	(Smith)
4	4	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1035: No.
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to alcoholic beverage license applications and fees.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 61.09, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 61.09. CHANGE OF LOCATION. If a licensee desires to
14	14	change the licensee's [his] place of business, the licensee [he]
15	15	may do so by applying to the commission [county judge] on a form
16	16	prescribed by the commission and obtaining the commission's [his]
17	17	consent. The application may be subject to protest and hearing in
18	18	the same way as an application for an original license. In the case
19	19	of a required protest hearing, the [The] county judge may deny the
20	20	application for any cause for which an original license application
21	21	may be denied. No additional license fee for the unexpired term of
22	22	the license shall be required in the case of an application for a
23	23	change of location.
24	24	SECTION 2. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 61.31,
25	25	Alcoholic Beverage Code, are amended to read as follows:
26	26	(a) A person may file an application for a license to
27	27	manufacture, distribute, store, or sell beer with the commission on
28	28	forms prescribed by the commission. On receipt of an application,
29	29	the commission or administrator shall determine whether a protest
30	30	has been filed against the application. If a protest against the
31	31	application has been filed, the commission or administrator shall
32	32	investigate the protest. If the commission or administrator finds
33	33	that no reasonable grounds exist for the protest, or if no protest
34	34	has been filed, the commission or administrator shall issue a
35	35	license if the commission or administrator finds that all facts
36	36	stated in the application are true and no legal ground to refuse a
37	37	license exists. If the commission or administrator finds that
38	38	reasonable grounds exist for the protest, the commission or
39	39	administrator shall reject the protested application and require
40	40	the applicant to file the application with the county judge of the
41	41	county in which the applicant desires to conduct business and
42	42	submit to a hearing [in termtime or vacation with the county judge
43	43	of the county in which he desires to conduct business. He shall
44	44	file the application in duplicate].
45	45	(b) The county judge shall set a protested [the] application
46	46	for a hearing to be held not less than 5 nor more than 10 days after
47	47	the date the county judge receives the protested application [is
48	48	filed].
49	49	(c) Each applicant for an original license, other than a
50	50	branch or temporary license, shall pay a hearing fee of $25 [$5] to
51	51	the county clerk at the time of the hearing. The county clerk shall
52	52	deposit the fee in the county treasury. The applicant is liable for
53	53	no other fee except the annual license fee prescribed by this code.
54	54	SECTION 3. The heading to Section 61.32, Alcoholic Beverage
55	55	Code, is amended to read as follows:
56	56	Sec. 61.32. PROTEST HEARING BY COUNTY JUDGE.
57	57	SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 61.32, Alcoholic
58	58	Beverage Code, is amended to read as follows:
59	59	(b) If the county judge enters an order favorable to the
60	60	applicant, the applicant shall present a copy of the order to the
61	61	commission [assessor and collector of taxes of the county and pay
62	62	that officer the appropriate license fee. The assessor and
63	63	collector of taxes then shall report to the commission on a form
64	64	prescribed by the commission, certifying that the application was
65	65	approved and that all required fees have been paid and furnishing
66	66	any other information the commission requires. The assessor and
67	67	collector of taxes shall attach a copy of the original application
68	68	to the report].
69	69	SECTION 5. Section 61.33, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
70	70	amended to read as follows:
71	71	Sec. 61.33. ACTION BY COMMISSION OR ADMINISTRATOR AFTER
72	72	PROTEST HEARING. (a) On receiving an order [a report] from the
73	73	county judge [assessor and collector of taxes] under Section
74	74	61.32(b) [of this code], the commission or administrator shall
75	75	issue the appropriate license if the commission or administrator
76	76	finds that the applicant is entitled to a license. The license
77	77	shall show the class of business the applicant is authorized to
78	78	conduct, the amount of fees paid, the address of the place of
79	79	business, the date the license is issued and the date it expires,
80	80	and any other information the commission considers proper.
81	81	(b) The commission or administrator may refuse to issue a
82	82	license after receiving the order from [report of] the county judge
83	83	[assessor and collector of taxes] if the commission or
84	84	administrator possesses information from which it is determined
85	85	that any statement in the license application is false or
86	86	misleading or that there is other legal reason why a license should
87	87	not be issued. If the commission or administrator refuses to issue
88	88	a license, the commission [it] or administrator [he] shall enter an
89	89	order accordingly and the applicant is entitled to a refund of any
90	90	license fee the applicant [he] paid [the assessor and collector of
91	91	taxes] in connection with the application.
92	92	SECTION 6. Subsection (b), Section 61.34, Alcoholic
93	93	Beverage Code, is amended to read as follows:
94	94	(b) If the judgment of the district court is in favor of the
95	95	applicant, regardless of whether an appeal is taken, the applicant
96	96	shall present a copy of the judgment [shall be presented] to the
97	97	commission [assessor and collector of taxes of the county where the
98	98	application was made. The assessor and collector of taxes shall
99	99	accept the fees required by this code and proceed as provided under
100	100	Section 61.32 of this code as if the county judge had approved the
101	101	application].
102	102	SECTION 7. Section 61.35, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
103	103	amended by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection
104	104	(e) to read as follows:
105	105	(b) All license fees, except those for temporary licenses,
106	106	shall be deposited as provided in Section 205.02 [of this code].
107	107	Each license application must be accompanied by a cashier's check,
108	108	a teller's check, a check drawn on the account of a corporation
109	109	applying for a license or on the account of a corporation that is an
110	110	agent for the person applying for a license, a money order, or
111	111	payment by credit card, charge card, or other electronic form of
112	112	payment approved by commission rule for the amount of the state fee,
113	113	payable to the order of the comptroller. [The assessor and
114	114	collector of taxes shall make statements of the amounts collected
115	115	by him under this code to the commission at the times and in the
116	116	manner required by the commission or administrator.]
117	117	(d) The commissioner may not refund a license fee except
118	118	when the [If a] licensee [engaged in selling beer] is prevented from
119	119	continuing in business by a local option election or when an
120	120	application for a license is rejected by the commission or
121	121	administrator[, he is entitled to a refund of a proportionate
122	122	amount of the license fees he has paid covering the unexpired term
123	123	of his license]. As much of the proceeds from license fees [derived
124	124	under the provisions of this subtitle] as is necessary may be
125	125	appropriated for that purpose.
126	126	(e) The commission by rule shall establish a method for
127	127	transmitting five percent of the license fee to the assessor and
128	128	collector of taxes of the county in which the applicant's business
129	129	is located.
130	130	SECTION 8. Section 61.38, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
131	131	amended to read as follows:
132	132	Sec. 61.38. NOTICE OF APPLICATION. (a) Every original
133	133	applicant [When an application] for a license to manufacture, [or]
134	134	distribute, or [beer is filed, the county clerk shall post at the
135	135	courthouse door a written notice containing the substance of the
136	136	application and the date set for hearing.
137	137	[(b) When an original application to sell beer at retail at
138	138	a location previously licensed is filed, the county clerk shall
139	139	post at the courthouse door a written notice containing the
140	140	substance of the application and the date set for hearing.
141	141	[(c) When an original application to] sell beer at retail
142	142	shall give notice of the application by electronic or nonelectronic
143	143	publication at the applicant's own expense in [at a location not
144	144	previously licensed is filed, the county clerk shall publish notice
145	145	for] two consecutive issues of [in] a newspaper of general
146	146	circulation published in the city or town in which the applicant's
147	147	place of business is [to be] located. If no newspaper [of general
148	148	circulation] is published in that city or town, the notice must
149	149	[shall] be published in a newspaper of general circulation
150	150	published in the county where the applicant's business is [to be]
151	151	located. If no newspaper [of general circulation] is published in
152	152	that county, the notice must [shall] be published in a qualified
153	153	newspaper [which is] published in the closest neighboring county
154	154	and [is] circulated in the county where the applicant's business is
155	155	located [license is sought].
156	156	(b) The notice must [shall] be printed in 10-point boldface
157	157	type and must include:
158	158	(1) [shall set forth] the type of license applied for;
159	159	(2) the exact location of the business for which the
160	160	license is sought;
161	161	(3) the name of each [the] owner of the business and,
162	162	if the business is operated under an assumed name, [or owners;] the
163	163	trade name together with the name of each owner[, if operating under
164	164	an assumed name]; and
165	165	(4) if [in] the [case of a corporate] applicant is a
166	166	corporation, the names and titles of all officers [of the
167	167	corporation].
168	168	(c) An applicant for a renewal license is not required to
169	169	publish notice. [At the time the application is filed, the
170	170	applicant shall deposit with the clerk the cost of publishing
171	171	notice, which the clerk shall use to pay for the publication.]
172	172	SECTION 9. Subsection (c), Section 61.41, Alcoholic
173	173	Beverage Code, is amended to read as follows:
174	174	(c) If the holder of the existing license has made a
175	175	declaration required by the commission that the license holder will
176	176	no longer use the license, the license holder may not manufacture or
177	177	sell beer or possess it for the purpose of sale until the license
178	178	has been reinstated. The holder may apply to the commission [county
179	179	judge] for the reinstatement of the license in the same manner and
180	180	according to the same procedure as in the case of an original
181	181	license application. The county judge or the commission or
182	182	administrator may deny reinstatement of the license for any cause
183	183	for which an original license application may be denied.
184	184	SECTION 10. Section 61.48, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
185	185	amended to read as follows:
186	186	Sec. 61.48. RENEWAL APPLICATION. An application to renew a
187	187	license shall be filed with the commission [in writing with the
188	188	assessor and collector of taxes of the county in which the licensed
189	189	premises are located] no earlier than 30 days before the license
190	190	expires but not after it expires. The application shall be signed
191	191	by the applicant and shall contain complete information required by
192	192	the commission showing that the applicant is not disqualified from
193	193	holding a license. The application shall be accompanied by the
194	194	appropriate license fee [plus a filing fee of $2. The assessor and
195	195	collector of taxes shall deposit the $2 filing fee in the county
196	196	treasury and shall account for it as a fee of office]. No applicant
197	197	for a renewal may be required to pay any fee other than license fees
198	198	and the filing fee unless the applicant [he] is required by the
199	199	commission or administrator to submit to a renewal hearing before
200	200	the county judge.
201	201	SECTION 11. Section 61.49, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
202	202	amended to read as follows:
203	203	Sec. 61.49. ACTION ON RENEWAL APPLICATION BY [TRANSMITTED
204	204	TO] COMMISSION; REFUND OF FEE. When the renewal application has
205	205	been filed in accordance with Section 61.48 [of this code, the
206	206	assessor and collector of taxes shall transmit to the commission
207	207	the original copy of the application plus a certification that all
208	208	required fees have been paid for the ensuing license period. On
209	209	receiving the application and certification], the commission or
210	210	administrator may in its discretion issue a renewal license or if an
211	211	application for a renewal is protested, reject the application and
212	212	require the applicant to file an application with the county judge
213	213	and submit to a hearing as is required by Section 61.31 [in the case
214	214	of an original application]. [When an application for renewal is
215	215	rejected, the applicant is entitled to a refund of any license fee
216	216	that was paid to the assessor and collector of taxes at the time the
217	217	renewal application was filed.]
218	218	SECTION 12. Subsection (a), Section 62.03, Alcoholic
219	219	Beverage Code, is amended to read as follows:
220	220	(a) Except as provided by Section 62.14, each applicant for
221	221	a manufacturer's license shall file with an application a sworn
222	222	statement that the applicant will be engaged in the business of
223	223	brewing and packaging beer in this state in quantities sufficient
224	224	to make the applicant's operation a bona fide brewing manufacturer
225	225	within three years of the issuance of the original license. If the
226	226	applicant is a corporation, the statement must be signed by one of
227	227	its principal officers. The commission, administrator, or county
228	228	judge may not approve an application unless it is accompanied by the
229	229	required sworn statement.
230	230	SECTION 13. Section 74.05, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
231	231	amended to read as follows:
232	232	Sec. 74.05. STATEMENT OF INTENT. An applicant for a brewpub
233	233	license shall file with the application a sworn statement that the
234	234	applicant shall be engaged in the business of brewing and packaging
235	235	malt liquor, ale, or beer in this state in quantities sufficient to
236	236	operate a brewpub not later than six months after the date of
237	237	issuance of the original license. If the applicant is a
238	238	corporation, the statement must be signed by a principal corporate
239	239	officer. The commission, administrator, or [A] county judge may
240	240	not issue a brewpub license to an applicant who does not submit the
241	241	required sworn statement with the application for a license.
242	242	SECTION 14. The change in law made by this Act applies only
243	243	to a license application filed on or after the effective date of
244	244	this Act. A license application filed before the effective date of
245	245	this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
246	246	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
247	247	that purpose.
248	248	SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.