BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 824

By: Kuempel

Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Current law authorizes liquor stores to makes sales until 9 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 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.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 824 amends the Alcoholic Beverage Code to authorize a package store permittee to allow a customer who has entered a package store during hours in which the package store is authorized to sell alcohol and is still in the store at the time the hours of legal sale end to remain in the store for a reasonable amount of time to finish shopping and to authorize 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.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.