SB0149

SENATE BILL 149

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Ron Griggs and Cliff R. Pirtle

AN ACT

RELATING TO EXECUTIVE REORGANIZATION; RENAMING THE ALCOHOL AND GAMING DIVISION; UPDATING STATUTORY REFERENCES; PROVIDING FOR TRANSFERS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1. Section 9-16-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1983, Chapter 297, Section 20, as amended) is amended to read:

"9-16-4. DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHED.--[There is created in the executive branch] The "regulation and licensing department" is created in the executive branch. The department shall not be a cabinet department. The department shall consist of but not be limited to [six] the following divisions [as follows]:

A. the administrative services division;

B. the construction industries division;

C. the financial institutions division;

D. the securities division;

E. the manufactured housing division; and

F. the [alcohol and gaming] alcoholic beverage control division."

SECTION 2. Section 60-3A-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter 39, Section 3, as amended by Laws 2016, Chapter 73, Section 1 and by Laws 2016, Chapter 76, Section 1) is amended to read:

"60-3A-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Liquor Control Act:

A. "alcoholic beverages" means distilled or rectified spirits, potable alcohol, powdered alcohol, frozen or freeze-dried alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin and aromatic bitters bearing the federal internal revenue strip stamps or any similar alcoholic beverage, including blended or fermented beverages, dilutions or mixtures of one or more of the foregoing containing more than one-half percent alcohol, but excluding medicinal bitters;

B. "beer" means an alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of any infusion or decoction of barley, malt and hops or other cereals in water, and includes porter, beer, ale and stout;

C. "brewer" means a person who owns or operates a business for the manufacture of beer;

D. "cider" means an alcoholic beverage made from the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of sound, ripe apples that contains not less than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume and not more than seven percent alcohol by volume;

E. "club" means:

(1) any nonprofit group, including an auxiliary or subsidiary group, organized and operated under the laws of this state, with a membership of not less than fifty members who pay membership dues at the rate of not less than five dollars ($5.00) per year and who, under the constitution and bylaws of the club, have all voting rights and full membership privileges, and which group is the owner, lessee or occupant of premises used exclusively for club purposes and which group the director finds:

(a) is operated solely for recreation, social, patriotic, political, benevolent or athletic purposes; and

(b) has been granted an exemption by the United States from the payment of the federal income tax as a club under the provisions of Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or, if the applicant has not operated as a club for a sufficient time to be eligible for the income tax exemption, it must execute and file with the director a sworn letter of intent declaring that it will, in good faith, apply for an income tax exemption as soon as it is eligible; or

(2) an airline passenger membership club operated by an air common carrier that maintains or operates a clubroom at an international airport terminal. As used in this paragraph, "air common carrier" means a person engaged in regularly scheduled air transportation between fixed termini under a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the federal aviation administration;

F. "commission" means the secretary of public safety when the term is used in reference to the enforcement and investigatory provisions of the Liquor Control Act and means the superintendent of regulation and licensing when the term is used in reference to the licensing provisions of the Liquor Control Act;

G. "department" means the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety when the term is used in reference to the enforcement and investigatory provisions of the Liquor Control Act and means the director of the [alcohol and gaming] alcoholic beverage control division of the regulation and licensing department when the term is used in reference to the licensing provisions of the Liquor Control Act;

H. "director" means the chief of the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety when the term is used in reference to the enforcement and investigatory provisions of the Liquor Control Act and means the director of the [alcohol and gaming] alcoholic beverage control division of the regulation and licensing department when the term is used in reference to the licensing provisions of the Liquor Control Act;

I. "dispenser" means a person licensed under the provisions of the Liquor Control Act selling, offering for sale or having in the person's possession with the intent to sell alcoholic beverages both by the drink for consumption on the licensed premises and in unbroken packages, including growlers, for consumption and not for resale off the licensed premises;

J. "distiller" means a person engaged in manufacturing spirituous liquors;

K. "golf course" means a tract of land and facilities used for playing golf and other recreational activities that includes tees, fairways, greens, hazards, putting greens, driving ranges, recreational facilities, patios, pro shops, cart paths and public and private roads that are located within the tract of land;

L. "governing body" means the board of county commissioners of a county or the city council or city commissioners of a municipality;

M. "growler" means a clean, refillable, resealable container that has a liquid capacity that does not exceed one gallon and that is intended and used for the sale of beer, wine or cider for consumption off premises;

N. "hotel" means an establishment or complex having a resident of New Mexico as a proprietor or manager and where, in consideration of payment, meals and lodging are regularly furnished to the general public. The establishment or complex must maintain for the use of its guests a minimum of twenty-five sleeping rooms;

O. "licensed premises" means the contiguous areas or areas connected by indoor passageways of a structure and the outside dining, recreation and lounge areas of the structure and the grounds and vineyards of a structure that is a winery that are under the direct control of the licensee and from which the licensee is authorized to sell, serve or allow the consumption of alcoholic beverages under the provisions of its license; provided that in the case of a restaurant, "licensed premises" includes a restaurant that has operated continuously in two separate structures since July 1, 1987 and that is located in a local option district that has voted to disapprove the transfer of liquor licenses into that local option district, hotel, golf course, ski area or racetrack and all public and private rooms, facilities and areas in which alcoholic beverages are sold or served in the customary operating procedures of the restaurant, hotel, golf course, ski area or racetrack. "Licensed premises" also includes rural dispenser licenses located in the unincorporated areas of a county with a population of less than thirty thousand, located in buildings in existence as of January 1, 2012, that are within one hundred fifty feet of one another and that are under the direct control of the license holder;

P. "local option district" means a county that has voted to approve the sale, serving or public consumption of alcoholic beverages, or an incorporated municipality that falls within a county that has voted to approve the sale, serving or public consumption of alcoholic beverages, or an incorporated municipality of over five thousand population that has independently voted to approve the sale, serving or public consumption of alcoholic beverages under the terms of the Liquor Control Act or any former act;

Q. "manufacturer" means a distiller, rectifier, brewer or winer;

R. "minor" means a person under twenty-one years of age;

S. "package" means an immediate container of alcoholic beverages that is filled or packed by a manufacturer or wine bottler for sale by the manufacturer or wine bottler to wholesalers;

T. "person" means an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, copartnership, association or other legal entity;

U. "rectifier" means a person who blends, mixes or distills alcohol with other liquids or substances for the purpose of making an alcoholic beverage for the purpose of sale other than to the consumer by the drink, and includes all bottlers of spirituous liquors;

V. "restaurant" means an establishment having a New Mexico resident as a proprietor or manager that is held out to the public as a place where meals are prepared and served primarily for on-premises consumption to the general public in consideration of payment and that has a dining room, a kitchen and the employees necessary for preparing, cooking and serving meals; provided that "restaurant" does not include establishments as defined in rules promulgated by the director serving only hamburgers, sandwiches, salads and other fast foods;

W. "retailer" means a person licensed under the provisions of the Liquor Control Act selling, offering for sale or having in the person's possession with the intent to sell alcoholic beverages in unbroken packages, including growlers, for consumption and not for resale off the licensed premises;

X. "ski area" means a tract of land and facilities for the primary purpose of alpine skiing, snowboarding or other snow sports with trails, parks and at least one chairlift with uphill capacity and may include facilities necessary for other seasonal or year-round recreational activities;

Y. "spirituous liquors" means alcoholic beverages as defined in Subsection A of this section except fermented beverages such as wine, beer and ale;

Z. "wholesaler" means a person whose place of business is located in New Mexico and who sells, offers for sale or possesses for the purpose of sale any alcoholic beverages for resale by the purchaser;

AA. "wine" includes the words "fruit juices" and means alcoholic beverages obtained by the fermentation of the natural sugar contained in fruit or other agricultural products, with or without the addition of sugar or other products, that do not contain less than one-half percent nor more than twenty-one percent alcohol by volume;

BB. "wine bottler" means a New Mexico wholesaler who is licensed to sell wine at wholesale for resale only and who buys wine in bulk and bottles it for wholesale resale;

CC. "winegrower" means a person who owns or operates a business for the manufacture of wine;

DD. "winer" means a winegrower; and

EE. "winery" means a facility in which a winegrower manufactures and stores wine."

SECTION 3. Section 60-3A-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1987, Chapter 254, Section 25, as amended) is amended to read:

"60-3A-7. AUTHORITY OF THE [ALCOHOL AND GAMING] ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL DIVISION.--The [alcohol and gaming] alcoholic beverage control division of the regulation and licensing department has the authority over all matters relating to the issuance, denial, suspension or revocation of licenses under the Liquor Control Act. The director of the [alcohol and gaming] division [of the regulation and licensing department] may request the department of public safety to provide investigatory and enforcement support as deemed necessary."

SECTION 4. Section 60-3A-8 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2001, Chapter 86, Section 5) is amended to read:

"60-3A-8. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE [ALCOHOL AND GAMING] ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL DIVISION.--The director of the [alcohol and gaming] alcoholic beverage control division of the regulation and licensing department is responsible for the operation of the division. It is [his] the director's duty to supervise all operations of the division and to:

A. administer the laws that the division administers, including the Liquor Control Act. The director shall request the department of public safety to enforce the provisions of the Liquor Control Act as deemed necessary;

B. exercise general supervisory authority over all employees of the division;

C. organize the division into units to enable it to function most effectively;

D. confer authority and delegate responsibility as is necessary and appropriate;

E. employ, within the limitations of current appropriations and personnel laws, persons as are required to discharge [his] the director's duties;

F. undertake studies and conduct courses of instruction for division employees that will improve the operations of the division and advance its purposes; and

G. require compliance by employees of the division with [his] the director's verbal and written instructions by whatever disciplinary means appropriate."

SECTION 5. TEMPORARY PROVISION--TRANSFERS OF PROPERTY, CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS AND STATUTORY REFERENCES.--On the effective date of this act, all:

A. functions, personnel, appropriations, money, records, furniture, equipment and other property of the alcohol and gaming division of the regulation and licensing department are transferred to the alcoholic beverage control division of that department;

B. contractual obligations of the alcohol and gaming division of the regulation and licensing department shall be deemed to be references to the alcoholic beverage control division of that department; and

C. references in law to the alcohol and gaming division of the regulation and licensing department shall be deemed to be references to the alcoholic beverage control division of that department.

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