SENATE BILL 403
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009
INTRODUCED BY
Carlos R. Cisneros
AN ACT
RELATING TO LIQUOR CONTROL; CREATING A SPECIALTY LICENSE FOR GIFT SHOPS TO PERMIT SALES OF NEW MEXICO WINES AND BEERS IN UNBROKEN PACKAGES TO INCREASE TOURIST TRADE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. A new section of Chapter 60, Article 6A NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] GIFT SHOP LICENSE.--
A. A local option district may approve issuance of gift shop licenses in that local option district by holding an election on the question "Shall gift shops be permitted to sell New Mexico wines and beers in unopened containers for consumption off premises in the local option district?", pursuant to the procedures set out in Section 60-5A-1 NMSA 1978. The election also may be initiated by a resolution adopted by the governing body of the local option district without a petition from registered qualified electors having been submitted.
B. If the majority of electors voting on the question vote to allow gift shop sales of New Mexico wines and beers, the governing body of the local option district shall inform the director that gift shop licenses may be issued in that local option district.
C. A gift shop licensee shall be subject to the following requirements and restrictions:
(1) a person granted a gift shop license: (a) shall not serve food or beverages, except as permitted by this section;
(b) shall not own, lease or manage another license issued pursuant to the Liquor Control Act; and
(c) shall not sell gasoline from the licensed premises;
(2) the premises identified in an application for a gift shop license shall not be the premises identified for any other license issued pursuant to the Liquor Control Act;
(3) a gift shop licensee shall submit reports quarterly by the twenty-fifth day of the month following the last month of the calendar quarter to the director indicating the amount in each quarter of:
(a) gross receipts from the sale of beer and wine, including separate reporting of those sales made over the internet, by mail order or sold from the licensed premises but shipped out of state; and
(b) the total quarterly gross receipts;
(4) gift shop licensees shall only sell beer and wine in unbroken packages produced in New Mexico by a licensed winegrower or small brewer that is for consumption off the licensed premises;
(5) the hours in which a gift shop licensee may sell New Mexico beer and wine are from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday;
(6) if Sunday sales have been approved in the local option district, a gift shop licensee may sell New Mexico beer and wine in unbroken packages on Sunday from 12:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m.;
(7) a gift shop license shall not be transferable from person to person or from one location to another and shall have a term of one year, expiring each July 1 following issuance;
(8) no more than the equivalent of four six packs of twelve-ounce containers of beer or twelve seven hundred fifty milliliter bottles of wine may be sold to any one customer in one twenty-four-hour period; and
(9) the price of the wine or beer sold shall be at least one hundred sixty percent of the cost at which the wine or beer was purchased by the gift shop licensee.
D. The total annual gross receipts from sales from the licensed premises and the total gross receipts from the sale of wine and beer shall be reported in the fourth quarter report. The sales of wine and beer shall not exceed twenty percent of the total annual gross receipts of the gift shop licensee, except that gross receipts from internet sales, mail order sales and sales of wine and beer from the licensed premises but shipped out of state by the gift shop licensee shall not be included in the calculation of the twenty percent wine and beer sales from the licensed premises.
E. The wine and beer sold on the licensed premises shall be held at room temperature and not chilled.
F. The provisions of Sections 60-6A-18 and 60-6B-10 NMSA 1978 do not apply to a gift shop license and shall not be considered by the director in approving the issuance of a gift shop license.
G. In addition to the gross receipts tax on the sale of New Mexico wine and beer, a gift shop licensee shall also pay liquor excise tax as required by law.
H. A licensee may offer samples of beer and wine that the licensee has available for sale under the following restrictions:
(1) a sample serving shall not exceed fifty milliliters;
(2) only one sample of each separate product may be offered to or consumed by the same patron;
(3) a patron shall be limited to no more than twelve samples in a four-hour period;
(4) a payment may not be accepted by the gift shop licensee for the samples of the product offered and no admission fee may be charged to enter the premises and sample wine or beer;
(5) sampling shall be conducted on the licensed premises and a patron may not leave the premises with a sample of beer or wine;
(6) employees of the gift shop licensee:
(a) shall be twenty-one years of age or older to sell or oversee sampling of wine and beer available for sale on the premises of a gift shop licensee; and
(b) shall not be required to attend alcohol server education training to oversee sampling of wine and beer available for sale on the premises of a gift shop licensee or to sell wine or beer from the premises of a gift shop licensee;
(7) limited food samples may be offered free of charge at the same time that beer and wine samples are offered; and
(8) other than beer and wine that is being sampled, beer and wine shall not be available for consumption on the premises of a gift shop licensee.
I. The fee to apply for a gift shop license is three hundred dollars ($300) for the first year and four hundred dollars ($400) for each renewal of a gift shop license."
Section 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2009.
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