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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=16946
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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: January 26, 2015 03:17 PM
From: Representative Jason Dawkins
To: All House members
Subject: Additional Penalties for Establishment that sell alcohol to minors
 
In the near future I plan to introduce legislation that would strengthen state laws relating to underage drinking and the sale of alcohol to minors at our licensed establishments.

Specifically, the bill would look to encourage licensed establishments, and their employees, to be more diligent in limiting sales to minors, and thus curbing underage drinking, by assessing a fine of $5,000 to $15,000 if they sell alcohol to a minor who is then convicted of a violent crime. The bill would provide, however, an exemption to those establishments that used a transaction scan device on the identification card to determine the legal age of the individual.

Underage drinking is becoming an epidemic across the United States, and Pennsylvania is not immune. For Philadelphia, and other densely populated area of the state, the statistics are alarming. According to the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, in 2009, minors consumed 12.5% of all the alcohol sold in this Commonwealth, equaling close to $916 million in sales. Licensees who enable minors to consume alcohol are not only endangering the life of the minor, but also all of the individuals within their presence, since the consequences of the consumption of alcohol can be deadly. There are many examples of young people who gained access to alcohol from a licensed establishment who then committed violent acts.

In addition, this proposal would require licensees who have two or more offenses, within a three year period, relating to the sale of alcohol to minors to obtain and use an ID scanner, technically known as transaction scan devices, to check the validity of a patron’s ID.

With technology constantly advancing, fraudulent IDs are becoming more and more sophisticated, it is far more difficult to detect false identification visually today than it was 10 years ago. This legislation would ensure that licensees who are having a difficult time identifying fake IDs will have the proper tools necessary to prevent underage drinking.

Alcohol sales to minors remains a significant problem for many communities across the Commonwealth, including the city of Philadelphia. Although most establishments are committed to following state laws pertaining to alcohol sales to minors, there are still some that are not doing their due diligence in protecting our youth, and our communities, with regard to underage drinking.

I strongly believe that Pennsylvania must make it clear to its liquor licenses, and their employees, that selling alcohol to minors is a serious offense, especially if that minor commits a violent crime due to their consumption of alcohol. And we must require new technologies be utilized for establishments who habitually violate state law.

I hope you will join me in cosponsoring this legislation. Thank you in advance for your consideration.



Introduced as HB488