Date: 02/06/2006

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB06-1144

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND LABOR

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved amendment L.005 (Attachment A). Representat
Moved to refer House Bill 06-1144, as amended, to 		PASS
PASS



01:42 PM -- House Bill 06-1144

Representative Marshall called the committee to order and announced to the committee that there were eight bills to be heard and for witnesses to keep testimony directed at the bill, and to not repeat any previous testimony. House Bill 1144 would make it so that if employers follow all the rules, train their employees in accordance with the law, and have no previous violations, they would not have their liquor license suspended because an employee sold alcohol to a minor. Representative Marshall explained that House Bill 1144 was in the middle of testimony on Friday, February 3, when the bill was laid over. Representative May stated that he had not opening comments and would like to continue testimony.

01:42 PM -- Pete Meersman, representing the Colorado Restaurant Association, testified in support of the bill. He stated that not every violation should be penalized the same as occurs in Douglas County. Mr. Meresman gave an example of when the Macaroni Grill's license that was suspended for selling to a minor even though there are over 100 employees working there. He was asked to clarify if most of the violations are mistakes on the part of the server, to which he stated yes. The committee mentioned that statute already allows for mitigating factors, Mr. Meersman agreed, but explained that every jurisdiction does not take into consideration server training, like Douglas County for example. There was committee discussion on the effects of a license suspension on the other employees in the restaurant.

01:55 PM -- Tim Schmidt, representing Hacienda Colorado Restaurants, testified in support of the bill. He explained that the employee turnover rate in the restaurant industry is high and that the average age of the employees is between 18 and 28. He described the training that the employees receive related to underage serving. He stated that there was one violation from an employee at one of the restaurants he represents where the employee failed to read the ID and explained the consequences on the business and the other employees. Mr. Schmidt stated the businesses are self regulated and are handling the problem themselves.

02:05 PM -- John Ziegler, representing Jackson's Sports Grills, testified in support of the bill. He stated that he had helped create the model guidelines concerning compliance checks for underage alcohol sales that have been referred to previously. He stated that in all cases where alcohol has been served to a minor, it was a momentary lapse on the server's part. He was asked what he felt an appropriate penalty for a first time offense. Mr. Ziegler responded.

02:19 PM -- Gary Moss, representing the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, testified against the bill. He read a statement from the association. There was committee discussion about mitigating factors and how they are taken into account under the current statute.

02:27 PM

Representative May responded to the committee's discussion stating that all the bill does is codify the rules that certain jurisdictions fail to follow.

02:28 PM -- Chuck Ford, representing the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association, testified in support of the bill. He encouraged support of the legislation stating that local control is not consistent across the state. There was a question from the committee about whether there have been second offenses under the current statute. Mr. Ford stated that he does not feel that is true, and explained that many companies have been shut down due to multiple violations. He added that many of his members agree with the Restaurant Association's position.

02:32 PM -- Matt Cook, Director of the Colorado Liquor Enforcement Division, Colorado Department of Revenue, responded to the rate of second offenses. He stated that when the model guidelines were put together, there was a 49 percent noncompliance rate, and that last year there was a 25 percent noncompliance rate. Mr. Cook added that the repeat offender rate runs 33 percent across the state. In response to committee questions, Mr. Cook stated there is some action against the liquor license in most cases and that a fine cannot occur against an establishment unless a suspension is imposed.

02:38 PM -- Dave Thomas, representing the Colorado District Attorney's Council, stated that the bill as originally drafted was opposed by the Council but that now, after the strike below, they have no current position. He was asked to clarify his original opposition.

02:39 PM -- Tony Lombard, representing Colorado Counties Incorporated (CCI), testified in opposition to the bill and stated that CCI has no position on the strike below amendment.

02:40:24 PM --

There was committee discussion about an amendment proposed by Representative Balmer on page 2 line 3, strike "may" and substitute "shall". After committee discussion Representative Balmer withdrew his amendment.
BILL:HB06-1144
TIME: 02:42:15 PM
MOVED:Balmer
MOTION:Moved amendment L.005 (Attachment A). Representative May explained the strike below amendment. He stated that the mitigating factors should be taken into account in each case. There was committee discussion about what parties were opposed and in support of the bill. The motion passed 11-2.
SECONDED:Liston
VOTE
Balmer
Yes
Borodkin
No
Butcher
Yes
Carroll M.
Yes
Coleman
Yes
Knoedler
Yes
Liston
Yes
McCluskey
Yes
Paccione
No
Penry
Yes
Welker
Yes
Cerbo
Yes
Marshall
Yes
Not Final YES: 11 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:HB06-1144
TIME: 02:56:47 PM
MOVED:Balmer
MOTION:Moved to refer House Bill 06-1144, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed 8-5.
SECONDED:Liston
VOTE
Balmer
Yes
Borodkin
No
Butcher
Yes
Carroll M.
Yes
Coleman
Yes
Knoedler
Yes
Liston
Yes
McCluskey
Yes
Paccione
No
Penry
No
Welker
Yes
Cerbo
No
Marshall
No
Final YES: 8 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PAS