House Rules
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Bills discussed (5)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1341
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…AREA WITH ENTITIES AUTHORIZED TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. HB1341 Brown TO ALLOW ONLY ON-PREMISES SALES OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE…”
|
TO ALLOW ONLY ON-PREMISES SALES OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ON CHRISTMAS DAY. | Brown | Died in House Committee at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
SB32
Act 158
· 4 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “SB32 J. English TO AUTHORIZE A RETAIL LIQUOR PERMIT HOLDER TO DE…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE CERTAIN PERMIT HOLDERS TO DELIVER ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DIRECTLY TO A CONSUMER. | J. English | Notification that SB32 is now Act 158 |
|
HB1066
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “HB1066 Pilkington TO ESTABLISH A BEER DIRECT SHIPPER PERMIT.”
|
TO ESTABLISH A BEER DIRECT SHIPPER PERMIT. | Pilkington | Died in House Committee at Sine Die Adjournment |
|
HB1228
Act 874
· 3 mentions in agenda, transcript, chapter
Matched: “…B1066 Pilkington TO ESTABLISH A BEER DIRECT SHIPPER PERMIT. HB1228 L. Johnson TO AUTHORIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DESIGNATED E…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DESIGNATED ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT IN AN AREA WITH ENTITIES AUTHORIZED … | L. Johnson | Notification that HB1228 is now Act 874 |
|
HCR1008
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HCR1008 Shepherd TO PROVIDE FOR AN EXTENSION OF THE REGULAR SESSION…”
|
TO PROVIDE FOR AN EXTENSION OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY; AND … | Shepherd | Approved by the Governor |
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Speaker 1
0:00
All right, members, if you could get close to your seat, have a seat. We'll get started here in just a second.
Chair
Unverified
0:30
all right members chair sees a quorum we'll get this meeting started the first bill on the agenda is house bill 1066 representative pilkington i don't see him yet we're going to go ahead and skip that bill for now, and we'll go ahead and run House Bill 1228. Representative Johnson.
Speaker 10
1:11
Representative Johnson, just for the record, if you would introduce yourself, and we'll
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
1:16
go ahead and get started with your bill. Mr. Sure, Representative Lee Johnson, and thank you, Mr. Chair, for allowing me to present this bill today. Members of the committee, the intent of this bill is relatively straightforward. This is a bill designed to afford an opportunity to restaurants that reside in dry areas but that are already legally allowed to serve alcoholic beverages to design a pathway for them to serve these beverages in an outside setting.
So, as you may recall, in the last session, we passed a bill that would allow entities that serve alcoholic beverages in wet areas to petition the local government to create entertainment districts. The intent of this bill is to afford that same opportunity to these entities in these dry areas. It does not in any way create new alcohol sales. It doesn't circumvent the process by which restaurants or entities in dry areas can serve alcohol. And most importantly, it doesn't circumvent in any way local control.
So this is set up to just, you know, afford them the same opportunities to apply for an entertainment district area that we did for the entities in the wet areas at the last session. And I'd be happy to answer any questions. All right, members, are there any questions by the committee? All right, seeing no questions,
Chair
Unverified
2:32
is there anyone in the audit who would like to speak for or against the bill? You have a lift.
Speaker 18
2:43
If you would, please introduce yourself before you begin.
Speaker 19
2:48
And are you speaking for or against the bill?
Chair
Unverified
2:54
Yes, my name is Larry Page, director of the Arkansas Faith and Ethics
Speaker 20
2:58
Council. I'm here to speak against the bill. All right, you can continue. Pardon? Go ahead. Okay, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you. I would just like to speak to you for a few moments.
This is not a complicated issue. What I have to say to you is not profound or esoteric. I will tell you why this bill is not good is because it is going to further diminish local control. We pay so much lip service to local control, yet time and time again we see mandates handed down from central government, whether it be from Washington to the states or from Little Rock to local people. And I think you need to pause a moment before you consider giving this bill a due pass.
We're talking about private clubs in dry counties. They're dry for a reason. They're dry because the residents of those counties wanted them to be dry. Now, the ABC board, five members of the ABC board in Little Rock, imposed private clubs on dry counties against the will of the local people. That clearly is a clear instance of deprivation of local control.
The private clubs have evolved. They're no longer private, and they're not clubs, not in the least sense of the word. They're really just simply other establishments where anyone can come in. They can be a stranger. They don't have to be known by anyone, and that was the original intent of the private club, is that people who live in an area who want to socialize over drinks can form a club and meet and do that. Well, the private clubs have evolved to the point where they're indistinguishable from establishments in wet counties.
And, you know, people have tolerated that. There's no riots or burning these establishments down. People said, okay, that's the way the law has evolved. But this bill goes way too far. It's a bridge too far. We're simply asking you to uphold reasonable limits. People in dry counties don't want to see people coming out of these establishments, these so-called private clubs with cocktails, mixed drinks, beer, wine, walking around the
outside areas of their towns. It really is an affront to those people who have voted that county dry. Local control ought to mean something. We pay, as I said, we pay lip service to it, but sometimes we don't really honor that principle. I'm simply asking you to honor that principle, give some consideration to people in dry counties who voted that county dry and not give this kind of discretion to people to really just sort of make an obstacle of
themselves or a situation where they're not trampling on the rights of the people in those counties, but really sort of making a mockery of that. I would appreciate a good vote that you would simply establish this limit and maintain local control. I think that's something that people would like to see from Little Rock and like to see you do. I'll be glad to answer any questions that you might have.
Speaker 25
6:39
All right, members, are there any questions? thank you
Chair
Unverified
6:45
for coming down sir sir hang on just one second we've got representative
Representative Deborah Ferguson
Unverified
6:54
ferguson miss page municipality votes to do it by ordinance and i mean so there is local control over it even though we pass this bill yes
Representative Lee Johnson
Unverified
7:04
so the bill doesn't do anything to circumvent local control the processes that we set in place for the entertainment district bill last time would
still apply. So it's still, if this bill passes, it doesn't automatically create a situation where these clubs can now serve alcohol in an outside setting. You still have to go through all the local government before any of those things could be allowed to happen. Thank you, Representative Ferguson. Members, any
Chair
Unverified
7:30
other questions? Was there anyone signed up to speak for the bill? All right. Seeing none, what is the wishes of the committee? Yes, sir.
Can you go ahead and hit your button on your mic? You've got a different kind of mic, don't you? Just talk loud. Okay, the motion do pass. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you, Representative. You passed
Speaker 21
8:05
your bill. I appreciate it. All right, next on the agenda is HB 1341. We have Representative Brown.
Chair
Unverified
8:26
And Representative Brown, if you'll hold just a second, I believe we have a handout that staff is passing out if you want to
Speaker 39
8:38
go ahead and introduce yourself for the record we'll go ahead and get started with your testimony Thank You mr. chair
Speaker 42
8:46
and committee I'm here to present house bill 1341 which would allow on-premises sales of alcohol on Christmas Day
Currently, no alcohol is allowed to be sold either on-premises or off-premises at the liquor store or in the restaurant on Christmas Day. It's the only day of the year that's so designated. This bill would not allow sales of alcohol at the liquor store, but only in a restaurant or hotel. And I believe you've received correspondence from the Arkansas Convention and Visitors Bureau and North Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, numerous hotels and restaurants, and Monty McNaughty is in support of this bill.
Speaker 44
9:43
And I do have some people that I would be glad to invite up if you would like to ask
Chair
Unverified
9:51
me or them questions. THANK YOU, REPRESENTATIVE. MEMBERS, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? SEEING NO QUESTIONS, WE DO HAVE SOME FOLKS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK FOR AND AGAINST THE BILL. WE'LL GO AHEAD AND START WITH THE AGAINST. AND I BELIEVE THE FIRST ONE IS TONY REESE.
Speaker 31
10:20
Ma'am, if you could introduce yourself for the record, you can
Tony Rose
Unverified
10:30
begin your testimony. Sure. My name is Tony Rose. Sorry,
I pronounced that incorrectly. Tony Rose, right? That's okay. Okay. You're not the first. And I represent An American Speaks. so here's my objection to this is that we are continually because this is a legal drug
nibble nibble nibbling away I'm only speaking for this at this time but but everything we're talking about today is continually eroding the protections that we have put in place to protect the public and their values against one of the most dangerous drugs in America today, and that is alcohol. So this is what happens when drugs become legal. We continually erode those safeguards.
And I know this isn't so relevant legally, but my goodness, could we not give Jesus one day out of the year to not serve alcohol? So that's my primary objective. The other thing is that somebody's got to be in that liquor store to sell that alcohol, so they have to work on Christmas Day. We complain about people having to work on Thanksgiving, and we've really kind of forced a lot of even the big box retailers to close on Thanksgiving
so people could have Thanksgiving.
Chair
Unverified
12:02
Ma'am, I believe she said, if I'm not mistaken, that the liquor stores are
Tony Rose
Unverified
12:08
not included in this bill. It's just restaurants. Correct. So the restaurants have to be open to serve the liquor. So I'm just saying is that I'd like really to consider us to stop the constant nibbling and eroding of all of the protections that we've put in place for people and their value systems and their communities on the subject of alcohol.
Chair
Unverified
12:35
All right. Thank you, ma'am. Members, are there any questions? All right. Seeing no, thank you for coming
Tony Rose
Unverified
12:57
down, ma'am. Thank you. Moving to the—speaking for the bill, we have Gretchen
Speaker 53
13:00
Hall. If you would identify yourself for the record, you can proceed. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I'm Gretchen Hall with the Convention and Visitors Bureau here in Little Rock, and we represent the tourism industry.
Just a quick point of clarification. you're right this this bill would be for on-premise consumption only on Christmas Day only it is primarily we feel a guest service and guest expectation issue when we have guests staying in hotels that already have an on-premise alcohol permit to sell alcohol and they have to tell a guest that they cannot serve them on Christmas with their dinner or their brunch that creates customer confusion and really dissatisfaction for the restaurant. This would
only be for the restaurants that so choose to be open. So if they are choosing to be open on Christmas Day, they already have staff there as well. So we really feel that the primary purpose for this is that guest expectation and guest satisfaction level. And then also just in light of the severe negative impact that COVID-19 has had on our tourism industry, this is just one more small burden to lift and allow them to have this additional revenue capacity on Christmas Day.
Speaker 21
14:09
All right, thank you for that. We do have someone that would like to ask you
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
14:14
a question. Representative Wardlaw, you recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm over here. Okay. How many states restrict the sale of alcohol on Christmas Day? I do not have the answer to that. I'm unsure. Mr. Chairman, if you're allowed, I'll ask the bill sponsor that same question. Go right ahead. Representative Brown, can you
Speaker 39
14:31
answer that question I apologize representative Wardlaw I did not look
Representative Jeff Wardlaw
Unverified
14:36
that up thank you I think that's important to know that are we alone in this restriction are we with our
neighboring states so um before this goes to the floor or any further if you don't mind representative Brown could you get us that answer I'd be glad to thank
Speaker 53
14:54
you representative Wardlaw I will mention that when when we were discussing this bill with with quite a few of our counterparts in the industry there are a lot of the general public that didn't even realize this was an actual restriction at this point but we'd be happy to get that answer all right thank you members
Chair
Unverified
15:07
are there any other questions on this one all right seeing none thank you for coming down
we do not have anyone else signed up to speak against the bill we have one more signed up to speak for the bill and that's jeff
Tony Rose
Unverified
15:24
mcclure come on down and if you would introduce yourself for
Jeff Mcclure
Unverified
15:27
the record you can proceed yes sir my name is jeff mcclure i'm the director of sales and marketing for the double tree hotel downtown we're the fourth largest hotel in the state at 288 rooms and you're probably surprised to know that we do quite a bit of business on christmas day with people staying we have contract business we have people coming in for hospital visits and just
people that are coming in to visit family may not want to be with their family all day they may want to come back to the hotel so being our restaurants open on christmas day already and then when we have that conversation with them that we can't give them an alcoholic beverage it certainly you know is a surprise to everybody because they just think that's a given and this would definitely help us out all right thank
Chair
Unverified
16:09
you sir members or any questions all right seeing none thank you for coming down we have no one else signed up to speak for or against the bill
Representative Brown, would you like to close
Speaker 42
16:26
for your bill? Yes. I understand the concern that people may have for alcohol being sold on a religious holiday. However, when you go to church on Easter Sunday and then you go to a restaurant for dinner, you may order an alcoholic beverage.
There's no restriction on Easter Sunday. Two ladies in widows had asked me about this bill because they had driven all the way to Hot Springs thinking that if they went to the National Park, they could order a glass of wine with their brunch at the Arlington and were informed that they could not buy wine on Christmas Day. So it's kind of a guest expectation, and I
Speaker 44
17:16
know this bill has been around for many, many years
with the idea that people should be home with their families. But there's a lot of changes have taken place in our society since then and people travel a lot and our hotels and restaurants need to be able to, in my opinion, meet their
Speaker 63
17:37
customers' expectations. And with that, I'd ask for a good vote.
Chair
Unverified
17:42
Representative Brown, thank you. What are the wishes of the committee? REPRESENTATIVE FERGUSON, YOU'RE RECOGNIZED. MOTION DUE PASSED.
WE HAVE A MOTION DUE PASSED BY REPRESENTATIVE FERGUSON. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, SIGN UP BY SAYING AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED, SIGN UP BY SAYING NO. I'M GOING TO SAY THE NOES HAVE IT. THE BILL IS FAVLED, REPRESENTATIVE BROWN. YOU CAN STAY THERE. I BELIEVE YOU'RE UP AGAIN ON SENATE BILL 32. MEMBERS, THIS DOES HAVE, I BELIEVE, AN AMENDMENT AND A FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT THAT'S BEING
Chair
Unverified
19:02
All right, I believe everything's handed out. Representative Brown, if you want to go ahead, I
Speaker 39
19:12
believe you said you have an amendment so you can
Speaker 42
19:17
present your amendment at this time. My Senate Bill 32 originally only dealt with
Speaker 39
19:24
retail liquor stores, and this amendment adds the microbreweries, craft breweries. Okay. Representative Waterloo, you're recognized.
Chair
Unverified
19:34
Motion to approve the amendment, Mr. Chairman. All right. We have a motion to approve the amendment. All those in favor, signify by
Speaker 39
19:46
saying aye. Aye. All those opposed? All right. Your motion is adopted. Now you
Speaker 42
19:53
can present your bill. During the emergency, the governor instructed the different agencies to try to accommodate businesses. And during this time, liquor stores, microbreweries, craft breweries, they have all been allowed to deliver product.
And this simply would allow them to continue to be able to deliver with the restrictions that are set in place by ABC. And ABC is here to speak to you about those restrictions. but only an employee of the company who is 21 years of age or older is allowed to make the delivery. The order is taken over the phone and information is confirmed over the phone and then when that delivery is made it is reconfirmed and I would like to defer to these two gentlemen
Speaker 44
20:41
If you would, identify yourself. Mr. Chairman,
Speaker 82
20:48
I'm Bill Paschal. I'm here today on behalf of the United Beverage Retailers of Arkansas. We represent about 80 different liquor stores around the state. And as Representative Brown has said, it's a simple bill. It basically patterns what we already have in the executive order. We believe it's a safe and accountable way to deliver.
We actually think it's safer than the kid driving up to the drive-thru window with fake ID. One, we've all been at parties before where somebody ran out of a wine and they needed to get more and they may have hopped in their car to go get it. Well, this could prevent that. They can get on the phone and call the liquor store or get online and call the liquor store and have it delivered so they don't get out on the road after they've had one too many. And we think it also is safer to keep the alcohol out of the hands of children and people underage
because you get two chances to check their IDs. Either when they call in, we collect the name, address, their age, and oftentimes their driver's license number. And then when it's delivered, it has to be delivered to that person. Their ID has to be checked. The liquor stores that are currently doing it, and it's a handful, but they're taking pictures of the license and keeping that in the record. So that gives us even more accountability there.
We don't have a lot of liquor stores that are currently delivering because it is a temporary rule. I think we'll have more if you allow this bill to get through and it passes. the liquor store owners have not, some of them have not wanted to make that leap and invest in insurance, additional personnel and vehicles until the law became permanent. But I think you'll see it's seamless. Director Chandler on the Senate side was asked the question about violations and
she testified that in the nine months that we've had delivery, there have been no violations. So So we believe it's safe and accountable, and we would appreciate you supporting that. Did she happen to talk about any violations for people
Chair
Unverified
23:07
using fake IDs and that kind of thing when they are driving up to liquor stores or going into liquor stores? Because I'm assuming when she says no violations, she's talking about the delivery side? That was
Speaker 84
23:18
the question, the delivery side, and she answered. I don't want to speak for her, but in the Senate committee, she answered there hadn't been any violations.
Chair
Unverified
23:25
Okay. So the process that the stores are using to ensure that anyone under 21 is not buying alcohol, would you say that's more intense, more scrutiny on the delivery side than it would be if somebody walking in the store? And if so, are those rules going to be, if this bill were to pass, would it be promulgated by
Speaker 82
23:45
ABC? It would. And yes, it is more accountable because you have two chances to check with this. you're getting the information over the phone and then when they actually deliver it and again they can't leave it on the doorstep
it has to be handed to the person they're checking that ID and the ones that are doing it now are actually taking the photos and our industry is committed to working with Director Chandler to implement rules that bring about safety and accountability. Thank you. Members are there any questions with this guest? No. Mr. Edwards did you want to add
Speaker 15
24:12
anything to that? Just real quick, I want to thank you
Chair
Unverified
24:16
all. Go ahead and introduce yourself for the record, then you
Speaker 87
24:23
start. Yes, sir. Bob Edwards, I'm here on behalf of the Arkansas Brewers Guild.
We represent the roughly 40 craft brewers around the state, both small breweries and microbrewery restaurants. Our guys took a tremendous hit during the pandemic. Several of our employees have had to be laid off. this opportunity to deliver was really a lifeline to help keep our guys going and we have found that even you know as the future you know hopefully we get out of this pandemic but
a lot of our customers of craft beer you know tend to be older they like they've liked the concept of us coming to them. It keeps them off the road. Like Mr. Paschal said, it's a safe way to, for them to get the product. And, uh, I will say this. I do have one of my members of my guild here today, Mr. Or actually major, uh, Quentin Willard. He's a major in the United States Army Reserve. He owns a Fort Smith Brewing Company in Fort Smith. Uh, but he's here to answer any
questions. He signed up on the four list, but if you have any questions on how it's impacted his, business. He'd be glad to visit
Speaker 88
25:41
with you all. Thank you very much. I believe we have a
Representative Deborah Ferguson
Unverified
25:47
question by Representative Ferguson. Just if you would go and push your button. Just so I'm clear, this wouldn't allow, say like, you know, in West Memphis, it's Walgreens who really sells most of liquor. They can't deliver
Speaker 90
26:00
then. We need to amend that. Thank you. The problem, Representative Ferguson, the issue there is Walgreens, CVS, the grocery stores all use third-party delivery,
and this bill says it has to be an employee of the
Speaker 82
26:13
store or the brewery, and that's for accountability purposes. We don't want it to get clouded that a third party may have delivered to somebody who's underage, and they say, oh, it's not my issue. It's the buck stops with our guys. If they don't do it right, they can be fine. They can lose their permit. Same with that, and that that's why grocery stores and
Speaker 91
26:32
um sea stores and pharmacies are not in part part of this all right thank
Chair
Unverified
26:39
you represent ferguson uh members any other questions all right seeing none thank
you guys for coming down i appreciate it we do have a couple of people signed up to speak for and against the bill we'll start with against the bill we have teresa Bellew. Now, if you would introduce
Teresa Bellew
Unverified
27:12
yourself for the record, you can proceed. Hello, my name is Teresa Bellew. I have been a frequent flyer for the Rules Committee in years
passed, and some of the good work that we've all been able to do together include, well, back to the omnibus DWI bill, working with Win Paul Rockefeller. We ran a full package of underage drinking prevention and social host laws through this committee with Johnny Key and Sean Womack, keg registration, and this committee has done a lot of good work when it comes to policy and helping to protect our young people.
I have worked as the executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. I'm a founding member of the Crime Victims Assistance Association of Arkansas, past president of the Arkansas Underage Drinking Prevention Coalition. I've been appointed by Governors Huckabee, Beebe, and Hutchinson to the Arkansas Alcohol and Drug Abuse Coordinating Council. I currently chair the Arkansas Impaired Driving Prevention Task Force. I'm retired as the, when I retired, I was the Chief for Injury and Violence Prevention for the state of Arkansas.
And currently as a volunteer, I'm Program Manager for Speak Up About Drugs. And we are a victim assistance agency that provides services to families and friends of those who are addicted to drugs and or alcohol. last year our first full year of services we served 129 families the first three months of this year 157 families we have been able to provide services to in all these years I never thought
that I would see the issue of home delivery of course the world is a very different place and I know that there are bars and restaurants who speak about how this would help their profit But we have to look at the difference between profit and prevention when it comes to policy issues such as this, particularly when it comes to access to alcohol for children. Forbes magazine reports that in 2020, the alcohol sales in this nation rose from $3 billion in 2019 to $5.6 billion in 2020.
There are many articles about increased use and misuse of alcohol during the COVID pandemic because of the circumstances of people being at home and a lot of the stresses that abound. One headline actually said, hangover from alcohol boon could last long after the pandemic ends. I originally thought that I would bring some of our youth coalition members here to talk to you
but because of the COVID dangers and such I do I realize that I have a tool that would allow 86,413 of Arkansas's youth to tell you what's going on with them. We have an annual survey that surveys 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders here in the state of Arkansas that's been going on for 20 plus years. And this past year, ending 2019, 86,413 of our children answered the survey.
And when they were asked, where do you get alcohol? They respond, over half of them respond that they get it from someone who is a friend that is 21 or older or a relative or a sibling. So they are getting their alcohol from someone who legally purchases it, not at retail stores and not through fake IDs and such. Of the 86,413 children surveyed, they said that alcohol is easy to get
and that they drink it at their friend's house or at their own home. So increasing the access within the home is the loss of a very important risk and protective factor. Of these children, 43% of our 10th graders and 45% of our 12th graders say that they have already purposely had enough alcohol and purposely drank to get drunk.
I'm probably not getting the tenth of that correct. But the disturbing part is that in the last or the previous 30 days to this survey, 30% of our 12th graders had been drinking to get drunk, which is binge drinking. Our average age of alcohol consumption, first consumption in Arkansas, It's just over 12 years. That's the average age of first consumption. We know that with virtual learning, there's less parental or less supervision
because many children are home on their own working on schoolwork. We also know that a risk and protective factor, and as many of them as we have, it's very important to keep our children safe. I want to very directly ask you to vote no on Senate Bill 32. If you hear what these 86,413 of our students have told us,
keeping these risk and protective factors in place, especially as we move into a post-pandemic world, You know, I said that I never thought that I would see this kind of a measure come up. But, you know, it was never brought up by the industry prior to this emergency order. You, as the legislature, never had an opportunity to say, yeah, we think that's a good idea. This is a continuation of an emergency proclamation that was not even sanctioned by our legislature.
So I want you to think and ask yourself, would I have voted for this measure had the pandemic not happened? Would I have seen this as a good policy and a good protective factor for my children if the pandemic had not happened? the current emergency powers put this home delivery in place and we have another emergency
that's happening and that's how many of our children and families are being affected by the misuse of alcohol and how risky that is please don't allow a pandemic practice to become a post-pandemic norm. You have an opportunity to do some good work today. When I was introducing myself, I didn't mention the most important credential that I hold, and that is that my husband and I are the parents of two children,
five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. And I want this state to be as safe as it possibly can for them to limit their alcohol access and to make sure that the Rules Committee of our legislature understands how important it is to hold the line when it comes to youth and underage drinking. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you, ma'am. Members,
Chair
Unverified
35:04
are there any questions with this guest?
I'm seeing none. Thank you for coming down. I appreciate your testimony. We have another person signed up to speak for the bill. It's Quentin Willard. You can come on down and introduce yourself for
Quentin Willard
Unverified
35:31
the record, and then you can proceed. Hello, my name is Quentin Willard, owner-operator at Fort Smith Brewing Company in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Speaker 97
35:37
I'm in favor of the bill. As stated, this was an emergency law that got passed or a
bill that got passed for our current situation. And the law itself or the bill that they got passed single-handedly saved my company. Our typical group of people who buy our product are in the older generation. They've accumulated enough wealth to enjoy a spirit or two from time to time. And they also happen to be the target group of this terrible virus. And so for them to be able to stay in the comfort of their home and choose responsibly how to drink and not put
themselves at risk, it was a great honor for us to give them that service and also to keep my employees on staff and continue to generate revenue and create jobs within our community. On top of that, I noticed that the previous gal who was speaking up here had mentioned that she's part of people against drunk driving. In our industry, that's always a big fear of ours. You know, you never want to serve somebody too much. You never want somebody to misuse it. And you definitely don't want somebody to get in a wreck behind a car. So this bill absolutely would protect
against that. And then we've also mentioned today about all the rules that are in place to, again, to protect the use of our product. We do have to ID these individuals. My business, my whole livelihood is on the line whenever we deliver a product to somebody. So we definitely impress upon my company and from everybody else in the industry. I know it's our single most important aspect of what we think about is the appropriate and healthy use of our product. It can be misused.
We're all aware of that. But within our industry, we're trying to create ways to make it better. And this bill, absolutely, to let them enjoy it at home where they don't have to, like mentioned before, have to go back out on the roads and drive. They don't have to get it at a bar and then drive home. They can sit at home and they can do it in a healthy manner. And so I think this is an incredible bill. And as we've seen in the last year throughout this pandemic, it has been used responsibly and nobody has misused it. I'm very confident that it'll continue that way.
Chair
Unverified
37:49
All right. Thank you for that, sir. Members, are there any questions? all right seeing no question thank you for coming down i don't see anyone else signed up to speak for or against the bill representative brown would you like to close for your bill yes
Speaker 39
38:02
and the um director of abc is here if anyone would like to hear from her and ask her directly if she is aware of any violations i'd be glad to bring her up to the
Speaker 42
38:09
table anybody want to have abc come to the table no i believe we're okay right now so i'm close
Chair
Unverified
38:20
for my bill thank you members you've heard an explanation of the bill what are the right wishes of the committee representative ferguson has a motion do pass all those in favor sign about saying aye all those opposed i believe the eyes have it thank you representative brown thank you thank you committee as amended yeah your bill is passed as amended thank you thank you representative gray uh
Speaker 101
38:45
i'm gonna let vice chair slate take take over so we have one more bill, it's House Concurrent Resolution 1008.
Speaker 103
39:15
Mr. Chair, you are recognized to present HCR 1008. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.
Chair
Unverified
39:20
Members, this resolution is the same we do in past General Assemblies. It allows us to extend the session if needed. Currently, the session will recess April 9th. This would allow us to extend that session if we need to, and I'm as hopeful as you are that we do not need to extend it to May 3rd. There's one extra provision in here. Were we to get shut down because of a major COVID outbreak in the General
Assembly, it would allow us to add any of those days we missed to the end, and then we could be able to come back in there. So that's all I have. I'd be happy
Speaker 104
40:03
to take any questions. Members, do we have any questions? Thank you. motion to pass all those in favor of the resolution say aye any against motion carries mr chair and Congratulations, sir.
Speaker 109
40:38
Is there any other business? No. All right. Next Wednesday, we'll come back in at noon and meet at that time. Other than that, the meeting's over.
Agenda
REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1066 Pilkington TO ESTABLISH A BEER DIRECT SHIPPER PERMIT.
HB1228 L. Johnson TO AUTHORIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DESIGNATED ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT IN AN AREA WITH ENTITIES AUTHORIZED TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.
HB1341 Brown TO ALLOW ONLY ON-PREMISES SALES OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
SB32 J. English TO AUTHORIZE A RETAIL LIQUOR PERMIT HOLDER TO DELIVER ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DIRECTLY TO A CONSUMER.
HCR1008 Shepherd TO PROVIDE FOR AN EXTENSION OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE NINETY-
THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY; AND TO PROVIDE FOR A RECESS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — HOUSE RULES, Feb 3, 2021 | Agenda | 1 | Official source ↗ |
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Representative Lee Johnson
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