AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Current law authorizes liquor stores to make sales until 9:00 p.m. on days of operation. Interested parties note that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has an informal policy that allows a customer to complete a purchase if the customer is in a store before 9:00 p.m. but has not completed a purchase by that time. These parties have expressed concerns regarding the lack of a statutory mechanism authorizing this type of sale. H.B. 824 amends the applicable law to address this concern.
H.B. 824 amends current law relating to the sale of alcoholic beverages to customers of a package store during certain hours.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 22, Alcoholic Beverage Code, by adding Section 22.17, as follows:
Sec. 22.17. SALE TO CUSTOMER IN STORE AT CLOSING. Authorizes a permittee, notwithstanding any other provision of this code, if a customer has entered a package store during hours in which the package store may sell alcohol and is still in the store at the time the hours of legal sale end, to allow the customer to remain in the store for a reasonable amount of time to finish shopping. Authorizes the permittee to sell an alcoholic beverage to that customer even though the sale occurs after the designated end of the hours of legal sale.
SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2015.