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A06989 Summary:

BILL NOA06989
 
SAME ASSAME AS UNI. S06786
 
SPONSORHunter
 
COSPNSRHyndman, Williams, Cunningham, Jean-Pierre, Paulin, Epstein, Septimo, Reyes, O'Donnell, Ramos, Zinerman, Mikulin, Flood, Walker
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd 3, 75, 83, 100 & 102, add 79-e, ABC L
 
Establishes supermarket wine licenses to sell from the licensed premises wine in sealed containers for consumption off such premises.
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A06989 Actions:

BILL NOA06989
 
05/10/2023referred to economic development
01/03/2024referred to economic development
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A06989 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6989
 
SPONSOR: Hunter
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the alcoholic beverage control law, in relation to establishing supermarket wine licenses   PURPOSE: To allow certain off premises sales locations to sell wine in addition to their existing alcohol sales of beer, cider, and wine products.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: This bill creates a new definition of supermarket for purposes of estab- lishing a supermarket wine license. This license would only be available to full-service grocery stores that are primarily engaged in the sale of food (at least 65% of sales from food-related products), already have a license for off premises beer sales, and are more than five thousand square feet. Applicants would pay a one-time franchise fee of ten thou- sand dollars per location. There would also be an annual fee for main- taining such licenses that is based on the licensee's total sales of wine in the prior year. Sales of New York wines would not be included, thereby providing an incentive to promote and sell New York wines.   JUSTIFICATION: New York's restriction on the sale of wine in supermarkets can be traced back to the era of Prohibition. While many laws have been updated to reflect modern times, consumers are still stuck making multiple trips to different stores for groceries and wine. This anachronistic model provides no consumer protections, but instead protects an entrenched monopoly that is to the detriment of convenient access for consumers. If consumers can be trusted to buy beer in supermarkets, they should be given the option to also purchase wine with their groceries as well. A January 2023 Siena poll found that 76% of New Yorkers support the sale of wine in grocery stores and 86% supported modernizing NY laws on wine sales to create more opportunities for NY wineries and grape producers to sell their products. New York is the only major wine-producing state that does not allow wine to be sold in grocery stores- unlike our larg- est competitors California, Washington, and Oregon- and New York's wineries will significantly benefit from increased distribution in supermarkets under this bill. Currently, more than forty states allow for the sale of wine in super- markets. In the states where wine is sold in grocery stores, such as Florida, liquor stores still exist and thrive. Allowing supermarkets to sell wine is simply about consumer access and ease, while also striking a balance - not including liquor - which ensures there will always be a market for traditional liquor stores. These traditional liquor stores will also likely continue to offer wines beyond what a supermarket can dedicate floor space to. The requirement for 65% of sales to be food-related will exclude national big box retailers and superstores (which may sell some food, but primarily are general goods retailers with significant buying power). Additionally, the bill's proposed minimum square foot threshold of 5,000 square feet would ensure that only full-service grocery stores are included, and not thousands of smaller convenience stores, gas station quick marts, drug stores, etc. This legislation also seeks to incentivize the sale of New York made wines by providing reductions in the stores' annual fees for New York wines sold. The focus on New York wines will greatly boost New York wineries and provide a steady stream of new customers for locally made products.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to the State, but there is expected increased revenue from applica- tion and license fees.   EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately.
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A06989 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
            S. 6786                                                  A. 6989
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                SENATE - ASSEMBLY
 
                                      May 10, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        IN  SENATE -- Introduced by Sens. KRUEGER, COONEY, FELDER, HOYLMAN-SIGAL
          -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
          the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations
 
        IN ASSEMBLY --  Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  HUNTER,  HYNDMAN,  WILLIAMS,
          CUNNINGHAM  --  read  once  and  referred to the Committee on Economic
          Development
 
        AN ACT to amend the alcoholic  beverage  control  law,  in  relation  to
          establishing supermarket wine licenses
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 3 of the alcoholic beverage control law is  amended
     2  by adding a new subdivision 13-a to read as follows:
     3    13-a.    "Supermarket"  shall  mean any retail establishment (a) whose
     4  primary business is the sale of foodstuffs for off-premises consumption,
     5  and (b) which is at least five thousand  square  feet,  in  total  floor
     6  area.  There  shall be a rebuttable presumption that a retail establish-
     7  ment is primarily engaged in the sale of foodstuffs where such sales  of
     8  foodstuffs  constitutes  greater  than  sixty-five  percent of the total
     9  revenue of such establishment in the twelve months preceding  submission
    10  of an application.
    11    §  2.  Subdivisions  3  and  5 of section 75 of the alcoholic beverage
    12  control law, subdivision 3 as amended by section 4 of part K of  chapter
    13  60  of  the  laws  of 2004, subdivision 5 as added by chapter 355 of the
    14  laws of 2013, are amended and a new subdivision 6 is added  to  read  as
    15  follows:
    16    3.  Seven  day  license to sell wine at retail for consumption off the
    17  premises subject to paragraph (a) of subdivision fourteen of section one
    18  hundred five of this chapter[.];
    19    5. Roadside farm market license[.];
    20    6. Supermarket wine license.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10893-01-3

        S. 6786                             2                            A. 6989
 
     1    § 3. The alcoholic beverage control law is amended  by  adding  a  new
     2  section 79-e to read as follows:
     3    §  79-e.  Supermarket  wine  license.  1.  Any person may apply to the
     4  authority for a license to sell  from  the  licensed  premises  wine  in
     5  sealed containers for consumption off such premises.
     6    2.  No  such  license  shall be issued, however, to any person for any
     7  premises other than a supermarket, as defined in subdivision  thirteen-a
     8  of section three of this chapter.
     9    3. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, except for
    10  good cause shown, the authority shall issue a supermarket license to the
    11  holder of a license to sell beer at retail for consumption off the prem-
    12  ises  pursuant  to  section fifty-four of this chapter, or beer and wine
    13  products at retail for consumption off the premises pursuant to  section
    14  fifty-four-a of this chapter, at the request of such licensee and there-
    15  after  renewed  or  transferred,  which authorizes the holder thereof to
    16  sell beer at retail to a person for consumption in his or her home.
    17    (b) For the purposes of this section, the premises of the  supermarket
    18  wine  licensee  shall be the same as the premises licensed under section
    19  fifty-four or fifty-four-a of this chapter.
    20    (c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, any  license
    21  issued pursuant to this section shall run concurrently with the underly-
    22  ing  license  under  section fifty-four or fifty-four-a of this chapter,
    23  and shall be deemed expired at  such  time  as  the  underlying  license
    24  expires.
    25     (d)  Any  person licensed to sell wine pursuant to this article shall
    26  be permitted to conduct wine tastings. Wine tastings which are conducted
    27  under the auspices of an official agent of a farm winery, winery, whole-
    28  saler, or importer and where such agent is  physically  present  at  all
    29  times  during  the  conduct  of  the  tasting,  then, in that event, any
    30  liability stemming from a right of action resulting from a wine  tasting
    31  as  authorized  pursuant  to  this  section,  and in accordance with the
    32  provisions of sections 11-100 and 11-101 of the general obligations law,
    33  shall accrue to the farm winery, winery, wholesaler, or importer.
    34    4. Such application shall be in  such  form  and  shall  contain  such
    35  information as shall be required by the rules of the authority and shall
    36  be  accompanied by a check or draft in the amount required by this arti-
    37  cle for such license.
    38    5. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this  chapter,  any  person
    39  receiving a license pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the
    40  provisions  of subdivision two, three or four of section seventy-nine of
    41  this article.
    42    6. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this  chapter,  any  person
    43  receiving a license pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the
    44  provisions  of  subdivision two, paragraph (a) of subdivision three, and
    45  subdivision fourteen of section one hundred five of this chapter.
    46    7. (a) A one-time franchise fee shall be paid for by each licensee  to
    47  the  state  liquor  authority. This franchise fee is hereby imposed at a
    48  rate of ten thousand dollars.
    49    (b) No license shall be issued pursuant  to  this  section  until  the
    50  franchise  fee  or  estimated franchise fee required by paragraph (a) of
    51  this subdivision has been paid in full.
    52    (c) The franchise fee shall be deposited and disposed of in  the  same
    53  manner as any license fee as provided in section one hundred twenty-five
    54  of this chapter.
    55    8.  Any person licensed to sell wine at retail for consumption off the
    56  premises under section seventy-nine of this  article  is  authorized  to

        S. 6786                             3                            A. 6989
 
     1  sell  wine  to persons licensed to sell wine under this article and this
     2  section who operate the premises of the supermarket wine licensee.
     3    9.  The  state liquor authority may make such rules as it deems neces-
     4  sary to carry out the provisions of this section.
     5    § 4. Section 83 of the alcoholic beverage control law  is  amended  by
     6  adding a new subdivision 10 to read as follows:
     7    10.  The annual fee for a supermarket wine license pursuant to section
     8  seventy-nine-e of this article shall be at  a  rate  of  one-half  (0.5)
     9  percent  of sales of wine sold, less the amount from sales of wines sold
    10  that were produced in New York state.
    11    § 5. Subdivision 2-a of section 100 of the alcoholic beverage  control
    12  law,  as  amended by chapter 249 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read
    13  as follows:
    14    2-a. No retailer shall employ, or permit  to  be  employed,  or  shall
    15  suffer  to work, on any premises licensed for retail sale hereunder, any
    16  person under the age of eighteen years, as a hostess, waitress,  waiter,
    17  or  in  any  other  capacity  where the duties of such person require or
    18  permit such person to sell,  dispense  or  handle  alcoholic  beverages;
    19  except that: (1) any person under the age of eighteen years and employed
    20  by  any  person  holding  a  grocery or drug store beer license shall be
    21  permitted to handle and deliver beer and wine products for  such  licen-
    22  see, (2) any person under the age of eighteen employed as a cashier by a
    23  person  holding  a grocery or drug store beer license shall be permitted
    24  to record and receive payment for beer and wine product  sales  when  in
    25  the  presence  of  and under the direct supervision of a person eighteen
    26  years of age or over, (2-a) any person under the age of  eighteen  years
    27  and  employed  by  a  person  holding a grocery store or drug store beer
    28  license as either a cashier or in any other position to  which  handling
    29  of  containers  which  may  have  held alcoholic beverages is necessary,
    30  shall be permitted to handle the containers if such have been  presented
    31  for redemption in accordance with the provisions of title ten of article
    32  twenty-seven of the environmental conservation law, [and] (3) any person
    33  under  the  age  of  eighteen years employed as a dishwasher, busboy, or
    34  other such position as to which handling of containers  which  may  have
    35  held  alcoholic beverages is necessary shall be permitted to do so under
    36  the direct supervision of a person of legal age  to  purchase  alcoholic
    37  beverages  in  the state, (4) any person under the age of eighteen years
    38  and employed by any person holding a supermarket wine license  shall  be
    39  permitted  to  handle  and  deliver  wine for such licensee, and (5) any
    40  person under the age of eighteen employed as a cashier by a person hold-
    41  ing a supermarket wine license shall be permitted to record and  receive
    42  payment  for  wine  when  in the presence of and under the direct super-
    43  vision of a person eighteen years of age or over.
    44    § 6. Subdivisions 3-a and 3-b of section 102 of the alcoholic beverage
    45  control law, as amended by chapter 458 of the laws of 1993, are  amended
    46  to read as follows:
    47    3-a.  No licensee or permittee shall purchase or agree to purchase any
    48  alcoholic beverages from any person within the state  who  is  not  duly
    49  licensed to sell such alcoholic beverage as the case may be, at the time
    50  of such agreement and sale nor give any order for any alcoholic beverage
    51  to  any individual who is not the holder of a solicitor's permit, except
    52  as provided for in section eighty-five [or], ninety-nine-g, or  seventy-
    53  nine-e of this chapter.
    54    3-b.  No  retail licensee shall purchase, agree to purchase or receive
    55  any alcoholic beverage except from a person  duly  licensed  within  the
    56  state  by  the  liquor  authority to sell such alcoholic beverage at the

        S. 6786                             4                            A. 6989
 
     1  time of such agreement and sale  to  such  retail  licensee,  except  as
     2  provided  for  in  section  eighty-five [or], ninety-nine-g, or seventy-
     3  nine-e of this chapter.
     4    § 7. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
     5  sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
     6  competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment  shall  not  affect,
     7  impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
     8  its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
     9  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
    10  ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
    11  the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
    12  invalid provisions had not been included herein.
    13    § 8. This act shall take effect immediately.
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