Explanation of House Bill H.B. No. 2966
This bill allows the sale of alcoholic beverages from certain automated machines. Currently, bars and restaurants can sell alcohol for consumption on their premises. This bill adds a new section to the Alcoholic Beverage Code, which allows these establishments to use automated machines to dispense alcoholic beverages.
The bill defines certain terms, such as "identification card" (which is a card issued by a government agency that has the person's name, physical description, and photograph) and "payment card" (which is a card like a credit card, debit card, or check card that is used to buy things).
Under this new section, a bar or restaurant with a permit to sell alcohol can use an automated machine to dispense the drinks. The machine will be activated when the establishment uses a payment card. Only certain people can dispense the alcohol from the machine: an employee of the establishment authorized to serve alcohol, or someone who is at least 21 years old and has been verified by the establishment using their identification card.
The establishment must record the verification of the person's age in a database and connect it to the payment card before the person is allowed to dispense alcohol from the machine.
The machine cannot dispense more than a certain amount of alcohol without the payment card being reactivated by the establishment. For example, it cannot dispense more than 32 ounces of beer, 10 ounces of wine, or 3 ounces of liquor without another payment card transaction.
Section 51.09 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code is also changed by this bill. This section currently prohibits the sale of alcohol from coin-operated machines. However, this bill adds an exception to allow for the sale of alcohol from the new automated machines described above, as long as age verification and payment card activation are required.
This bill will take effect on September 1, 2017.