Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Polled Out Of Committee

Majority Favorable

April 02, 2024

H. 4364

Introduced by Reps. W. Newton, Davis, Rutherford, Bernstein, M. M. Smith, Ott, Brittain, Guest, Hewitt, Elliott, Stavrinakis, Bradley, Wooten, Murphy, Herbkersman, Leber, Sessions, Caskey, Rose, Mitchell, Brewer, Guffey, Hardee, Collins, Gatch, B. Newton, Pace, Bauer, Bailey, Erickson, Schuessler and Hart

S. Printed 04/02/24--S.                                                                         [SEC 4/3/2024 11:25 AM]

Read the first time February 13, 2024

________

The committee on Senate Judiciary

To whom was referred a Bill (H. 4364) to amend the South Carolina Code of Laws by amending Section 61-2-170, relating to drive-through or curbside service of alcoholic beverages, so as to provide certain, etc., respectfully

Report:

Has polled the Bill out majority favorable.

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 61-2-170, RELATING TO DRIVE-THROUGH OR CURBSIDE SERVICE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, SO AS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS; BY ADDING SECTION 61-4-45 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT MAY ISSUE CERTAIN LICENSES OR PERMITS ALLOWING A RETAILER TO OFFER CERTAIN CURBSIDE DELIVERY OR PICK UP; BY ADDING SECTION 61-4-280 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A RETAIL DEALER MAY HIRE A DELIVERY SERVICE TO DELIVER CERTAIN BEER AND WINE AND TO PROVIDE FOR REQUIREMENTS; BY ADDING SECTION 61-6-1570 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT MAY ISSUE CERTAIN LICENSES OR PERMITS ALLOWING A RETAILER TO OFFER CERTAIN CURBSIDE DELIVERY OR PICK UP; AND BY ADDING SECTION 61-6-1580 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A RETAIL DEALER MAY HIRE A DELIVERY SERVICE TO DELIVER CERTAIN ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS AND TO PROVIDE FOR REQUIREMENTS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1.  The General Assembly finds and declares that:

    (A) The State has a substantial interest in regulating beverages containing alcohol, including alcoholic liquor, beer, ale, porter, wine, and other similar malt or fermented beverages as defined and licensed for retail sale pursuant to Sections 61-4-10 and 61-6-20, collectively referenced as "beverages containing alcohol" in these legislative findings, of the S.C. Code; the activities of manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, and retailers; the safe delivery of beverages containing alcohol to the state's consumers; and the influences that affect the consumption levels of beverages containing alcohol by the people of the State.

    (B) The State has a substantial interest in exercising its police powers to promote the public health, safety, and welfare of the State by regulating the business of retail sales and delivery of beverages containing alcohol in the manner and to the extent allowed by law to promote and preserve public health and safety through legitimate, nonprotectionistic measures, which include regulating and controlling transactions in this State involving beverages containing alcohol and the means and manner in which licensed retailers and third parties may deliver beverages containing alcohol to the state's qualifying consumers.

    (C) Selling and delivering beverages containing alcohol from retailers outside the State directly to residents of this State poses a serious threat to the state's efforts to prevent underage drinking, to state revenue collections, and to the public health and safety of the state's residents.

    (D) By this act, the General Assembly intends to promote the public health, safety, and welfare of residents of this State with laws intended to strictly regulate beverages containing alcohol by preserving and promoting a robust, stable system of distribution of beverages containing alcohol to the public, that does not provide for economic protectionism. Excessive use of beverages containing alcohol has wide ranging deleterious health effects, including death. The General Assembly acknowledges that, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control, during the period from 2011-2015 an average of 1,679 of this state's residents suffered alcohol-attributed deaths due to excessive alcohol use and the rate of binge drinking in this State is ranked among the highest in the nation. The General Assembly acknowledges that, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this State had two hundred eighty-five alcohol impaired driving fatalities in 2019, which accounted for twenty-eight percent of the total traffic fatalities in the State. Attributed deaths due to alcohol-impaired driving in this State is ranked among the highest in the nation.

    (E) This act has been enacted pursuant to the authority granted to the State by the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the powers reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the inherent powers of the State under the Constitution of the State of South Carolina, 1895, and the statutes promulgated thereunder. It is the intent of the General Assembly that this act does all of the following:

       (1) further regulate and control transactions in this State as to beverages containing alcohol under the control and supervision of the Department of Revenue;