Regular Session 2021-2022 Senate Bill 0948 P.N. 1238

PRINTER'S NO. 1238

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

No.

948

Session of

2021

INTRODUCED BY FONTANA, BREWSTER, SAVAL, FLYNN, COLLETT, BOSCOLA,

KANE, COMITTA, KEARNEY, CAPPELLETTI AND COSTA,

NOVEMBER 19, 2021

REFERRED TO LAW AND JUSTICE, NOVEMBER 19, 2021

AN ACT

Amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), entitled "An

act relating to alcoholic liquors, alcohol and malt and

brewed beverages; amending, revising, consolidating and

changing the laws relating thereto; regulating and

restricting the manufacture, purchase, sale, possession,

consumption, importation, transportation, furnishing, holding

in bond, holding in storage, traffic in and use of alcoholic

liquors, alcohol and malt and brewed beverages and the

persons engaged or employed therein; defining the powers and

duties of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board; providing

for the establishment and operation of State liquor stores,

for the payment of certain license fees to the respective

municipalities and townships, for the abatement of certain

nuisances and, in certain cases, for search and seizure

without warrant; prescribing penalties and forfeitures;

providing for local option, and repealing existing laws," in

Pennsylvania liquor stores, further providing for sales by

Pennsylvania liquor stores; in licenses and regulations and

liquor, alcohol and malt and brewed beverages, further

providing for sales by liquor licensees and restrictions, for

prepared beverages and mixed drinks for off-premises

consumption during disaster emergency and providing for

safekeeping.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Section 305(b) of the act of April 12, 1951

(P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, is amended to read:

Section 305. Sales by Pennsylvania Liquor Stores.--* * *

(b) The following apply to the sell of liquors:

(1) Every Pennsylvania Liquor Store shall sell liquors at

wholesale to hotels, restaurants, clubs, and railroad, pullman

and steamship companies licensed under this act; and, under the

regulations of the board, to pharmacists duly licensed and

registered under the laws of the Commonwealth, and to

manufacturing pharmacists, and to reputable hospitals approved

by the board, or chemists. Sales to licensees shall be made at a

price that includes [a discount of ten per centum from the

retail price; except that special] the following discounts:

(i) except as provided under paragraphs (2) and (3), for a

licensee that does not hold a wine expanded permit, a fifteen

per centum discount from the retail price for all purchases;

(ii) except as provided under paragraphs (2) and (3), for a

restaurant licensee that holds a wine expanded permit but does

not have an interior connection to a grocery store, convenience

store, department store or similar business, or a hotel licensee

with a wine expanded permit, regardless of any interior

connections, a fifteen per centum discount from the retail price

for all purchases; and

(iii) except as provided under paragraph (2), for a

restaurant licensee that holds a wine expanded permit and has an

interior connection to a grocery store, convenience store,

department store or similar business, a ten per centum discount

from the retail price for all purchases.

(2) Special order sales to licensees authorized in

subsection (a) shall not be subject to [the ten per centum] any

discount.

(3) The fifteen per centum discounts provided under

paragraph (1)(i) and (ii) shall revert to a ten per centum

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discount three years after the expiration or termination of the

proclamation of disaster emergency issued by the Governor on

March 6, 2020, published at 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21, 2020), and

any renewal of the proclamation of the state of disaster

emergency.

(4) The board may sell to registered pharmacists only such

liquors as conform to the Pharmacopoeia of the United States,

the National Formulary, or the American Homeopathic

Pharmacopoeia. The board may sell at special prices under the

regulations of the board, to United States Armed Forces

facilities which are located on United States Armed Forces

installations and are conducted pursuant to the authority and

regulations of the United States Armed Forces. All other sales

by such stores shall be at retail, except that incentives, such

as coupons or discounts on certain products, may be offered to

unlicensed customers of the board as provided under sections

207(m) and 493(24)(ii)(B). A person entitled to purchase liquor

at wholesale prices may purchase the liquor at any Pennsylvania

Liquor Store upon tendering cash, check or credit card for the

full amount of the purchase. For this purpose, the board shall

issue a discount card to each licensee identifying such licensee

as a person authorized to purchase liquor at wholesale prices.

Such discount card shall be retained by the licensee. The board

may contract through the Commonwealth bidding process for

delivery to wholesale licensees at the expense of the licensee

receiving the delivery.

(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term "grocery

store" shall mean a retail business that primarily sells a wide

variety of fresh and packaged foods, beverages and other items

to be consumed or used off of the store premises; the term

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"convenience store" shall mean a retail business that sells a

range of everyday items, including coffee, groceries, snack

foods, confectionery, soft drinks, tobacco products, over-the-

counter drugs, toiletries, gasoline and magazines; and the term

"department store" shall mean a retail establishment offering a

wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store and

which may include food items.

Section 2. Section 406 of the act is amended by adding

subsections to read:

Section 406. Sales by Liquor Licensees; Restrictions.--* * *

(j) Notwithstanding any provision of this act, a person

holding and possessing a valid restaurant or hotel liquor

license may sell prepared beverages and mixed drinks for off-

premises consumption where meals prepared for pick-up or

curbside pick-up are also available. The following shall apply:

(1) Except as provided in this paragraph and paragraph (3),

nothing in this section shall affect the ability of a licensee

to operate within the scope of the licensee's current license as

authorized by this act, provided, however, that no sales of

prepared beverages and mixed drinks for off-premises consumption

may take place after eleven o'clock postmeridian of any day

until the licensee's permitted hours of operation under this

section of the next day, including Sundays if the licensee has a

permit authorized under subsection (a)(3).

(2) The following licensees are prohibited from selling

prepared beverages and mixed drinks for off-premises consumption

under this section:

(i) A licensee whose underlying license is subject to a

pending objection by the director of the Bureau of Licensing or

the board under section 470(a.1), until the matter is decided.

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(ii) A licensee whose underlying license has been suspended

under section 1799.6-E of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343,

No.176), known as "The Fiscal Code."

(iii) A licensee that has an interior connection to a

grocery store, convenience store or department store.

(3) For purposes of selling prepared beverages and mixed

drinks for off-premises consumption, a licensed premises shall

not be subject to section 493(14).

(4) A licensee selling prepared beverages and mixed drinks

for off-premises consumption shall utilize a transaction scan

device to verify the age of an individual who appears to be

under thirty-five (35) years of age before making a sale of

prepared beverages and mixed drinks for off-premises

consumption. A licensee may not sell or share consumers'

personal data from the use of a transaction scan device,

provided that the licensee may share the data with the

enforcement bureau of the board as evidence that the licensee is

in compliance with this paragraph.

(5) A licensee selling prepared beverages or mixed drinks

for off-premises consumption shall prominently post a warning

restrictions on alcoholic beverages under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3809

(relating to restriction on alcoholic beverages), and that the

prepared beverages and mixed drinks packaged for sale by the

licensee are open containers and may only be transported by the

driver of a motor vehicle in the vehicle's trunk or in some

other area of the vehicle that is not occupied by the driver or

passengers.

(6) A prepared beverage or mixed drink for off-premise

consumption must be affixed with a label identifying that the

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product contains alcohol.

(7) As used in this subsection, the following words and

phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this paragraph

unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Convenience store" shall mean a retail business that sells a

range of everyday items, including coffee, groceries, snack

foods, confectionery, soft drinks, tobacco products, over-the-

counter drugs, toiletries, gasoline and magazines.

"Department store" shall mean a retail establishment offering

a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store,

which may include food items.

"Grocery store" shall mean a retail business that primarily

sells a wide variety of fresh and packaged foods, beverages and

other items to be consumed or used off of the store premises.

"Transaction scan device" shall mean a device capable of

deciphering, in an electronically readable format, the

information encoded on the magnetic strip, chip or bar code of

an identification card under section 495(a).

(k) Liquor and wine in the possession of a licensee at the

time the licensed business closes permanently may be sold to

another licensee qualified to sell such products. The licensee

shall notify the board in writing advising the board of the name

of the licensee and identifying any product sold to that

licensee, as well as the description of the liquor, including

brand names, sizes and numbers of containers sold to another

licensee.

Section 3. The heading of section 417 of the act, added May

21, 2020 (P.L.149, No.21), is amended and the section is amended

by adding subsections to read:

Section 417. [Prepared Beverages and Mixed Drinks for Off-

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Premises Consumption During] COVID-19 Disaster Emergency.--* * *

(a.1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the

following shall apply to the temporary extension of the licensed

premises:

(1) Upon receipt of a request from a licensed club, catering

club, restaurant, retail dispenser, hotel, limited distillery,

distillery, brewery or limited winery, the board may temporarily

extend the licensed premises of the applicant to include any

outside serving area that is:

(i) immediately adjacent to the existing licensed areas; or

(ii) within one thousand feet of the main licensed building,

notwithstanding that the area to be temporarily licensed and the

main licensed building are separated by a public thoroughfare.

(2) The board shall grant immediate operating authority to

the applicant to use the outside area subject to the request

while the board processes the request.

(3) The operating authority under this subsection shall be

terminated if:

(i) a valid protest is received; or

(ii) the board determines that the proposed area does not

meet the requirements of this act and board regulations for the

licensing of the area in question.

(4) A filing fee may not be required from an applicant under

this subsection.

(5) The board may require the applicant to provide any

information that the board deems relevant.

(a.2) The following shall apply to the issuance of off-

premises catering permits:

(1) The board may authorize an unlimited number of off-

premises catered functions to entities that qualify for the

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permits under this act.

(2) An application fee may not be required from an entity

requesting a catering permit under this subsection.

(3) An application for a catering permit under this

subsection shall not need to be submitted prior to March 1 of

that calendar year.

(4) A five-hour limit on catered functions shall not apply

to a catering permit under this subsection.

(5) Each requirement under this act applicable to a catered

function that is not specifically waived under this subsection

shall apply.

(a.3) Subsections (a.1) and (a.2) shall expire December 31,

2022.

* * *

Section 4. The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 462.1. Safekeeping.--In addition to the authority

under section 462 and notwithstanding any other provision of

this act, the board shall do the following:

(1) Provide an additional year of safekeeping for a club or

catering club license that was in safekeeping during the

proclamation of disaster emergency. A license under this

paragraph may not be subject to a renewal, validation or late

fee that would be due during the additional year, except that

the licensee must file a renewal or validation that becomes due.

An additional year of safekeeping under this paragraph shall

start on the date of a renewal or validation of the license that

occurs after December 31, 2021, and shall be in addition to the

two years authorized under section 474.

(2) Provide an additional year of safekeeping for a

restaurant, eating place retail dispenser, hotel, importing

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distributor and distributor license that was in safekeeping

during the proclamation of disaster emergency. A license under

this paragraph may not be subject to a renewal, validation, late

or safekeeping fee that would be due during the additional year,

except that the licensee must file a renewal or validation that

becomes due. An additional year of safekeeping under this

paragraph shall start on the date of a renewal or validation of

the license that occurs after December 31, 2021.

Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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