Brief Description: Revising provisions relating to acceptable forms of identification for liquor sales.

Sponsors: By House Committee on Commerce & Labor (originally sponsored by Representatives Hudgins, McMorris, Conway and Kenney; by request of Liquor Control Board).

Brief Summary of Substitute Bill

• Makes military identification without a visible signature an acceptable form of identification for buying liquor.

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 8 members: Representatives Conway, Chair; McMorris, Ranking Minority Member; Condotta, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Crouse, Holmquist, Hudgins, Kenney and McCoy.

Employees in state-run and contracted Washington liquor stores are required to check the identification of a customer whenever there is a question of whether the individual is at least 21 years old, and so legally entitled to purchase liquor.

Identification must show the person's date of birth and include both a signature and a photograph. Liquor store employees are instructed to use the date of birth and photograph to confirm age and identity. Employees of establishments licensed to sell alcoholic beverages, such as bars, restaurants, and grocery stores, follow the same procedure.

U.S. military identification cards issued to active duty, reserve, and retired military personnel and their dependents are among the officially issued forms of identification listed in statute as being acceptable for liquor store sales, and, in rule, as acceptable for licensed establishments.

The military recently adopted a new identification card that includes an embedded digital signature, rather than one which is visible.

For the purpose of proving that an individual seeking to purchase liquor is of legal age to do so, military identification that has an embedded rather than a visible signature is an acceptable form of identification.

The Liquor Control Board may adopt regulations covering cards of identification.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: This bill is helpful to military members, miliary retirees, and their families. This is a small but necessary change to allow those who sell alcoholic beverages to accept military identification. The lack of a visible signature is not a problem, as sellers look at only the birthdate and photograph to verify age and identity. The proposed substitute restricts rule-making authority to the forms of identification allowed by law.

Persons Testifying: Representative Hudgins, prime sponsor; and Rick Garza, Liquor Control Board.