PRINTER'S NO. 112
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
129
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY STEFANO, JANUARY 19, 2023
REFERRED TO LAW AND JUSTICE, JANUARY 19, 2023
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
preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
and, in licenses and regulations and liquor, alcohol and malt
and brewed beverages, providing for spirit expanded permits.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 102 of the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90,
No.21), known as the Liquor Code, is amended by adding a
definition to read:
Section 102. Definitions.--The following words or phrases,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the
meanings ascribed to them in this section:
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* * *
"S pirits" shall mean a beverage that contains alcohol
obtained by distillation and mixed with water or other substance
in solution, including brandy, rum, whiskey, gin or other
spirituous liquors, and such liquors when rectified, blended or
otherwise mixed with alcohol or other substances.
* * *
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 418. Spirit Expanded Permits.--(a) The following
apply:
(1) The board shall issue a spirit expanded permit to a
person holding and possessing a valid restaurant liquor license
or hotel liquor license.
(2) Nothing in this section may affect the ability of an
existing licensee to operate within the scope of its current
license as authorized by this act, except that no sales of
spirits for off-premises consumption may take place by a spirit
expanded permit holder after eleven o'clock postmeridian of any
day until the licensee's permitted hours of operation under
section 406 of the next day, including Sundays if the licensee
has a permit authorized under sections 406(a)(3) and 432(f).
(3) A spirit expanded permit may not be issued to a license
holder 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, so
long as the underlying license is authorized to operate.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a holder of a spirit
expanded permit may continue to operate under the permit if its
underlying license is objected to by the director of the Bureau
of Licensing or the board under section 470(a.1), until the
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matter is decided.
(4) If the board has approved the operation of another
business which has an inside passage or communication to or with
the licensed premises, the sale and purchase of spirits shall be
confined strictly to the premises in a specifically designated
area covered by the license. The purchase of goods obtained from
the unlicensed area of the premises shall be permitted in the
licensed area.
(5) For purposes of selling spirits for off-premises
consumption, a holder of a spirit expanded permit is not subject
to section 493(14).
(6) A spirit expanded permit holder shall comply with the
responsible alcohol management provisions under section 471.1.
(7) A spirit expanded permit holder may store spirits in a
noncontiguous area that is not accessible to the public and is:
(i) locked at all times when not being accessed by the
licensees' employes;
(ii) not accessible to employes under eighteen (18) years of
age; and
(iii) identified by dimensions and locations on forms
submitted to the board.
(8) A spirit expanded permit holder 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 spirits. A spirit expanded permit holder may not sell
or share data from the use of a transaction scan device,
provided that the licensee may use the data to show the
enforcement bureau that the licensee is in compliance with this
act. As used in this paragraph, the term "transaction scan
device" means a device capable of deciphering, in an
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electronically readable format, the information encoded on the
magnetic strip or bar code of an identification card under
section 495(a).
(9) A sale of spirits by a spirit expanded permit holder
shall be made through a register that is well designated with
signage, is staffed at all times, including by a sales clerk who
is at least eighteen (18) years of age and has been trained
under section 471.1, and utilizes a transaction scan device for
the sale. The sale of spirits may not occur at a point of sale
where the customer scans the customer's own purchases.
(b) The application and renewal fee for a spirit expanded
permit shall be as follows:
(1) For a spirit expanded permit issued to licensees, an
initial application fee of two thousand dollars ($2,000).
(2) An annual renewal fee equal to two per centum (2%) of
the cost of spirits purchased from the board for off-premises
consumption.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 802, all fees
paid to the board under this section shall be paid into the
State Treasury for deposit as follows:
(1) All moneys shall be deposited in The State Stores Fund.
(2) Every June 1, all moneys deposited under paragraph (1)
shall be transferred to the General Fund.
(d) A spirit expanded permit holder may sell for off-
premises consumption, in a single transaction, up to three
thousand (3,000) milliliters of spirits.
(e) The following apply:
(1) Spirit expanded permit holders shall comply with the
provisions of section 201(f), (k) and (o) of the act of March 4,
1971 (P.L.6, No.2), known as the "Tax Reform Code of 1971,"
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regarding the purchase of spirits from a Pennsylvania Liquor
Store.
(2) The sale of spirits by a spirit expanded permit holder
for off-premises consumption shall be considered a "purchase at
retail" under section 201(f) of the "Tax Reform Code of 1971," a
"sale at retail" under section 201(k) of the "Tax Reform Code of
1971" or a "use" under section 201(o) of the "Tax Reform Code of
1971."
(3) A spirit expanded permit holder may, when filing its
required returns under Article II of the "Tax Reform Code of
1971," request a credit of any taxes paid in accordance with
paragraph (1) for spirits sold for off-premises consumption and
for which taxes were remitted to the department under paragraph
(2).
(f) A spirit expanded permit holder may not sell a spirit
product for off-premises consumption at a price less than the
licensee's purchase price from the board of the spirit product.
(g) A spirit expanded permit holder may not sell a private
label product.
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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