S-0251.2 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5209
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 56th Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By Senators T. Sheldon, Winsley, Bauer, Haugen, Hale, Gardner and Benton
Read first time 01/15/1999. Referred to Committee on Commerce, Trade, Housing & Financial Institutions.
AN ACT Relating to low alcohol spirits coolers; amending RCW 66.04.010; reenacting and amending RCW 66.24.290; adding a new section to chapter 66.08 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 19.126 RCW; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 66.04.010 and 1997 c 321 s 37 are each amended to read as follows:
In this title, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Alcohol" is that substance known as ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, or spirit of wine, which is commonly produced by the fermentation or distillation of grain, starch, molasses, or sugar, or other substances including all dilutions and mixtures of this substance. The term "alcohol" does not include alcohol in the possession of a manufacturer or distiller of alcohol fuel, as described in RCW 66.12.130, which is intended to be denatured and used as a fuel for use in motor vehicles, farm implements, and machines or implements of husbandry.
(2) "Beer" means any malt beverage or malt liquor as these terms are defined in this chapter.
(3) "Beer distributor" means a person who buys beer from a brewer or brewery located either within or beyond the boundaries of the state, beer importers, or foreign produced beer from a source outside the state of Washington, for the purpose of selling the same pursuant to this title, or who represents such brewer or brewery as agent.
(4) "Beer importer" means a person or business within Washington who purchases beer from a United States brewery holding a certificate of approval (B5) or foreign produced beer from a source outside the state of Washington for the purpose of selling the same pursuant to this title.
(5) "Brewer" means any person engaged in the business of manufacturing beer and malt liquor.
(6) "Board" means the liquor control board, constituted under this title.
(7) "Club" means an organization of persons, incorporated or unincorporated, operated solely for fraternal, benevolent, educational, athletic or social purposes, and not for pecuniary gain.
(8) "Consume" includes the putting of liquor to any use, whether by drinking or otherwise.
(9) "Dentist" means a practitioner of dentistry duly and regularly licensed and engaged in the practice of his profession within the state pursuant to chapter 18.32 RCW.
(10) "Distiller" means a person engaged in the business of distilling spirits.
(11) "Domestic winery" means a place where wines are manufactured or produced within the state of Washington.
(12) "Druggist" means any person who holds a valid certificate and is a registered pharmacist and is duly and regularly engaged in carrying on the business of pharmaceutical chemistry pursuant to chapter 18.64 RCW.
(13) "Drug store" means a place whose principal business is, the sale of drugs, medicines and pharmaceutical preparations and maintains a regular prescription department and employs a registered pharmacist during all hours the drug store is open.
(14) "Employee" means any person employed by the board, including a vendor, as hereinafter in this section defined.
(15) "Fund" means 'liquor revolving fund.'
(16) "Hotel" means every building or other structure kept, used, maintained, advertised or held out to the public to be a place where food is served and sleeping accommodations are offered for pay to transient guests, in which twenty or more rooms are used for the sleeping accommodation of such transient guests and having one or more dining rooms where meals are served to such transient guests, such sleeping accommodations and dining rooms being conducted in the same building and buildings, in connection therewith, and such structure or structures being provided, in the judgment of the board, with adequate and sanitary kitchen and dining room equipment and capacity, for preparing, cooking and serving suitable food for its guests: PROVIDED FURTHER, That in cities and towns of less than five thousand population, the board shall have authority to waive the provisions requiring twenty or more rooms.
(17) "Importer" means a person who buys distilled spirits from a distillery outside the state of Washington and imports such spirituous liquor into the state for sale to the board or for export.
(18) "Imprisonment" means confinement in the county jail.
(19) "Liquor" includes the four varieties of liquor herein defined (alcohol, spirits, wine and beer), and all fermented, spirituous, vinous, or malt liquor, or combinations thereof, and mixed liquor, a part of which is fermented, spirituous, vinous or malt liquor, or otherwise intoxicating; and every liquid or solid or semisolid or other substance, patented or not, containing alcohol, spirits, wine or beer, and all drinks or drinkable liquids and all preparations or mixtures capable of human consumption, and any liquid, semisolid, solid, or other substance, which contains more than one percent of alcohol by weight shall be conclusively deemed to be intoxicating. Liquor does not include confections or food products that contain one percent or less of alcohol by weight.
(20) "Low alcohol spirits cooler" means a drink containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume, but not more than seven percent alcohol by volume, and consisting of spirits mixed with nonalcoholic beverages or flavoring or coloring materials; it may also contain water, fruit juices, fruit adjuncts, sugar, carbon dioxide, preservatives, or other similar products manufactured by fermenting fruit or fruit juices.
(21) "Manufacturer" means a person engaged in the preparation of liquor for sale, in any form whatsoever.
(((21)))
(22) "Malt beverage" or "malt liquor" means any beverage
such as beer, ale, lager beer, stout, and porter obtained by the alcoholic
fermentation of an infusion or decoction of pure hops, or pure extract of hops
and pure barley malt or other wholesome grain or cereal in pure water
containing not more than eight percent of alcohol by weight, and not less than
one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume. For the purposes of this title,
any such beverage containing more than eight percent of alcohol by weight shall
be referred to as "strong beer."
(((22)))
(23) "Package" means any container or receptacle used for
holding liquor.
(((23)))
(24) "Permit" means a permit for the purchase of liquor under
this title.
(((24)))
(25) "Person" means an individual, copartnership, association,
or corporation.
(((25)))
(26) "Physician" means a medical practitioner duly and
regularly licensed and engaged in the practice of his profession within the
state pursuant to chapter 18.71 RCW.
(((26)))
(27) "Prescription" means a memorandum signed by a physician
and given by him to a patient for the obtaining of liquor pursuant to this
title for medicinal purposes.
(((27)))
(28) "Public place" includes streets and alleys of
incorporated cities and towns; state or county or township highways or roads;
buildings and grounds used for school purposes; public dance halls and grounds
adjacent thereto; those parts of establishments where beer may be sold under
this title, soft drink establishments, public buildings, public meeting halls,
lobbies, halls and dining rooms of hotels, restaurants, theatres, stores,
garages and filling stations which are open to and are generally used by the public
and to which the public is permitted to have unrestricted access; railroad
trains, stages, and other public conveyances of all kinds and character, and
the depots and waiting rooms used in conjunction therewith which are open to
unrestricted use and access by the public; publicly owned bathing beaches,
parks, and/or playgrounds; and all other places of like or similar nature to
which the general public has unrestricted right of access, and which are
generally used by the public.
(((28)))
(29) "Regulations" means regulations made by the board under
the powers conferred by this title.
(((29)))
(30) "Restaurant" means any establishment provided with
special space and accommodations where, in consideration of payment, food,
without lodgings, is habitually furnished to the public, not including drug
stores and soda fountains.
(((30)))
(31) "Sale" and "sell" include exchange, barter, and
traffic; and also include the selling or supplying or distributing, by any
means whatsoever, of liquor, or of any liquid known or described as beer or by
any name whatever commonly used to describe malt or brewed liquor or of wine,
by any person to any person; and also include a sale or selling within the
state to a foreign consignee or his agent in the state. "Sale" and
"sell" shall not include the giving, at no charge, of a reasonable
amount of liquor by a person not licensed by the board to a person not licensed
by the board, for personal use only. "Sale" and "sell"
also does not include a raffle authorized under RCW 9.46.0315: PROVIDED, That
the nonprofit organization conducting the raffle has obtained the appropriate
permit from the board.
(((31)))
(32) "Soda fountain" means a place especially equipped with
apparatus for the purpose of dispensing soft drinks, whether mixed or
otherwise.
(((32)))
(33) "Spirits" means any beverage which contains alcohol
obtained by distillation, including wines exceeding twenty-four percent of
alcohol by volume.
(((33)))
(34) "Store" means a state liquor store established under this
title.
(((34)))
(35) "Tavern" means any establishment with special space and
accommodation for sale by the glass and for consumption on the premises, of
beer, as herein defined.
(((35)))
(36) "Vendor" means a person employed by the board as a store
manager under this title.
(((36)))
(37) "Winery" means a business conducted by any person for the
manufacture of wine for sale, other than a domestic winery.
(((37)))
(38) "Wine" means any alcoholic beverage obtained by
fermentation of fruits (grapes, berries, apples, et cetera) or other
agricultural product containing sugar, to which any saccharine substances may
have been added before, during or after fermentation, and containing not more
than twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume, including sweet wines fortified
with wine spirits, such as port, sherry, muscatel and angelica, not exceeding
twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume and not less than one-half of one
percent of alcohol by volume. For purposes of this title, any beverage
containing no more than fourteen percent of alcohol by volume when bottled or
packaged by the manufacturer shall be referred to as "table wine,"
and any beverage containing alcohol in an amount more than fourteen percent by
volume when bottled or packaged by the manufacturer shall be referred to as
"fortified wine." However, "fortified wine" shall not
include: (a) Wines that are both sealed or capped by cork closure and aged two
years or more; and (b) wines that contain more than fourteen percent alcohol by
volume solely as a result of the natural fermentation process and that have not
been produced with the addition of wine spirits, brandy, or alcohol.
This subsection shall not be interpreted to require that any wine be labeled with the designation "table wine" or "fortified wine."
(((38)))
(39) "Wine distributor" means a person who buys wine from a
vintner or winery located either within or beyond the boundaries of the state
for the purpose of selling the same not in violation of this title, or who
represents such vintner or winery as agent.
(((39)))
(40) "Wine importer" means a person or business within
Washington who purchases wine from a United States winery holding a certificate
of approval (W7) or foreign produced wine from a source outside the state of
Washington for the purpose of selling the same pursuant to this title.
Sec. 2. RCW 66.24.290 and 1997 c 451 s 1 and 1997 c 321 s 16 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) Any microbrewer or domestic brewery or beer distributor licensed under this title may sell and deliver beer to holders of authorized licenses direct, but to no other person, other than the board; and every such brewery or beer distributor shall report all sales to the board monthly, pursuant to the regulations, and shall pay to the board as an added tax for the privilege of manufacturing and selling the beer within the state a tax of one dollar and thirty cents per barrel of thirty-one gallons on sales to licensees within the state and on sales to licensees within the state of bottled and canned beer shall pay a tax computed in gallons at the rate of one dollar and thirty cents per barrel of thirty-one gallons. Any brewery or beer distributor whose applicable tax payment is not postmarked by the twentieth day following the month of sale will be assessed a penalty at the rate of two percent per month or fraction thereof. Beer shall be sold by breweries and distributors in sealed barrels or packages. The moneys collected under this subsection shall be distributed as follows: (a) Three-tenths of a percent shall be distributed to border areas under RCW 66.08.195; and (b) of the remaining moneys: (i) Twenty percent shall be distributed to counties in the same manner as under RCW 66.08.200; and (ii) eighty percent shall be distributed to incorporated cities and towns in the same manner as under RCW 66.08.210.
(2) An additional tax is imposed on all beer subject to tax under subsection (1) of this section. The additional tax is equal to two dollars per barrel of thirty-one gallons. All revenues collected during any month from this additional tax shall be deposited in the violence reduction and drug enforcement account under RCW 69.50.520 by the twenty-fifth day of the following month.
(3)(a) An additional tax is imposed on all beer subject to tax under subsection (1) of this section. The additional tax is equal to ninety-six cents per barrel of thirty-one gallons through June 30, 1995, two dollars and thirty-nine cents per barrel of thirty-one gallons for the period July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1997, and four dollars and seventy-eight cents per barrel of thirty-one gallons thereafter.
(b) The additional tax imposed under this subsection does not apply to the sale of the first sixty thousand barrels of beer each year by breweries that are entitled to a reduced rate of tax under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 5051, as existing on July 1, 1993, or such subsequent date as may be provided by the board by rule consistent with the purposes of this exemption.
(c) All revenues collected from the additional tax imposed under this subsection (3) shall be deposited in the health services account under RCW 43.72.900.
(4) An additional tax is imposed on all beer that is subject to tax under subsection (1) of this section that is in the first sixty thousand barrels of beer by breweries that are entitled to a reduced rate of tax under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 5051, as existing on July 1, 1993, or such subsequent date as may be provided by the board by rule consistent with the purposes of the exemption under subsection (3)(b) of this section. The additional tax is equal to one dollar and forty-eight and two-tenths cents per barrel of thirty-one gallons. By the twenty-fifth day of the following month, three percent of the revenues collected from this additional tax shall be distributed to border areas under RCW 66.08.195 and the remaining moneys shall be transferred to the state general fund.
(5) For the purpose of implementing this chapter, the liquor control board shall treat low alcohol spirits coolers the same as beer. In addition to taxes on beer, an additional tax is imposed on low alcohol spirits coolers of forty-five cents per liter.
(6) The tax imposed under this section shall not apply to "strong beer" as defined in this title.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 66.08 RCW to read as follows:
For the purpose of implementing this title, the liquor control board shall treat low alcohol spirits coolers the same as beer.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 19.126 RCW to read as follows:
For the purpose of implementing this chapter, low alcohol spirits coolers, as defined in RCW 66.04.010, shall be treated the same as beer.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect July 1, 1999.
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