Bill > S641

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to waive the renewal fees for plenary retail consumption licenses, which allow bars and restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages. In addition, the bill requires the director to waive the renewal fees to hold a limited brewery license and restricted brewery license. The bill further allows municipal governing bodies to also waive the municipal renewal fees to hold a plenary retail consumption license. Under current law, the holder of a plenary retail consumption license is required to pay to the ABC an annual $200 license renewal fee. These license holders also are required to pay the municipal governing body in which the licensed premises is situated an annual fee established by ordinance of $250 to $2,500. A person who holds a limited brewery license, also known as a "microbrewery" license, is entitled to brew and distribute beer to retailers and manufacturers, but is limited in the amount of beer that he or she may brew in one year. A person holding this license is prohibited from brewing an amount in excess of 300,000 barrels of 31 fluid gallons capacity per year. The fees to hold a limited brewery license are graduated based on the amount of beer brewed per year and are between $1,250 and $7,500 per year. A restricted brewery license, also known as a "brew pub" license, is only issued to a person who also holds a plenary retail consumption license generally issued to bars and restaurants. The brew pub license allows the licensee to brew the beer, while the consumption license allows the licensee to sell that beer and other alcoholic beverages directly to restaurant patrons. The annual fee to hold a restricted brewery license is $1,250 for up to 1,000 barrels holding 31gallons and an additional $250 for every additional 1,000 barrels produced. This bill would take effect immediately and be retroactive to March 9, 2020, which is the date on which the Governor declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. License holders who had already paid their annual renewal fee following March 9th would be entitled to receive a reimbursement for the cost of the fee. This temporary enactment has an effective date that expires: (1) on the date on which the coronavirus-related occupancy or customer seating restrictions no longer apply to these licensed premises; or (2) 12 months following the date of the bill's enactment, whichever date occurs later.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Declan O'Scanlon (R)*,  Mike Testa (R)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee (on 01/11/2022)

Official Document