HOUSE BILL 8
55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021
INTRODUCED BY
Dayan Hochman-Vigil and Doreen Y. Gallegos
and Peter Wirth and Ron Griggs
AN ACT
RELATING TO LIQUOR CONTROL; AMENDING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE LIQUOR CONTROL ACT TO PERMIT CERTAIN PERSONS TO DELIVER ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; ADDING A NEW TYPE OF RESTAURANT LICENSE THAT ALLOWS SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IN RESTAURANTS; IMPOSING LICENSE ISSUANCE FEES; ALLOWING DISPENSER'S LICENSES TO BE TRANSFERRED OUT OF A LOCAL OPTION DISTRICT INTACT; ALLOWING CERTAIN DISPENSER'S LICENSES TO REINSTATE RETAIL PRIVILEGES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of the Liquor Control Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE DELIVERY PERMIT--THIRD-PARTY DELIVERY LICENSE.--
A. A person otherwise qualified pursuant to the provisions of the Liquor Control Act may apply for and the department may issue an alcoholic beverage delivery permit authorizing the person to deliver alcoholic beverages if the applicant holds a valid retailer's, dispenser's, craft distiller's, winegrower's, small brewer's or restaurant license.
B. An alcoholic beverage delivery permit issued to a valid restaurant licensee shall only convey the authority to deliver alcoholic beverages concurrently with the delivery of a minimum of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) worth of food; provided that under no circumstances shall the delivery of alcoholic beverages be more than twenty-five fluid ounces of wine or seventy-two fluid ounces of beer.
C. An alcoholic beverage delivery permit is not transferable from person to person or from one location to another.
D. An alcoholic beverage delivery permit issued pursuant to this section is valid for one year from the date of issuance. An alcoholic beverage delivery permittee may renew an alcoholic beverage delivery permit annually as required by the department.
E. The director shall promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section, which shall include the following requirements and restrictions:
(1) an alcoholic beverage delivery permittee shall deliver alcoholic beverages only in unbroken packages;
(2) payment for alcoholic beverages shall be received only at the licensed premises of the selling licensee personally or by other means, including telephonically, electronically, via website, application or internet platform;
(3) a licensee shall not change the price charged for an alcoholic beverage because that beverage is purchased for delivery; provided that a separate fee may be charged for delivery; and further provided that the fee shall be disclosed to the customer at the time of the purchase;
(4) deliveries of alcoholic beverages shall occur only during the hours the selling licensee is authorized to sell alcoholic beverages;
(5) alcoholic beverages may be delivered only within the county in which the selling licensee's licensed premises is located;
(6) an alcoholic beverage delivery permittee shall not deliver an alcoholic beverage to a business, a commercial establishment, a college or university campus or a school campus that is not a home school;
(7) an alcoholic beverage delivery permittee delivering alcoholic beverages shall obtain valid proof of the recipient's identity and age;
(8) deliveries of alcoholic beverages shall not be made to an intoxicated person in violation of Section 60-7A-16 NMSA 1978 or to a minor in violation of Section 60-7B-1 NMSA 1978;
(9) while delivering alcoholic beverages, an alcoholic beverage delivery permittee shall have in the permittee's possession only alcoholic beverages that have been purchased for delivery;
(10) while delivering alcoholic beverages, an alcoholic beverage delivery permittee shall have in the permittee's possession the original or an electronic or physical copy of the permittee's alcoholic beverage delivery permit;
(11) a licensee that sells alcoholic beverages for delivery shall obtain and maintain the following records for a period of three years:
(a) the name and address of the purchaser of the alcoholic beverages;
(b) the time, date and place of delivery of the alcoholic beverages;
(c) the type and quantity of alcoholic beverages delivered;
(d) the name of the person delivering the alcoholic beverages;
(e) all invoices related to the sale and delivery of the alcoholic beverages; and
(f) a valid signature of the person who accepted the delivery of the alcoholic beverage; and
(12) the director may audit all records and transactions related to alcoholic beverage deliveries.
F. A licensee that holds an alcoholic beverage delivery permit issued pursuant to this section may utilize an employee who is at least twenty-one years of age and who holds a valid server permit to deliver alcoholic beverages.
G. A licensee that holds an alcoholic beverage delivery permit issued pursuant to this section may contract with a third-party alcohol delivery service licensed by the department; provided that the licensee, the third-party alcohol delivery service and the server who delivers alcohol may be separately liable for violations of the Liquor Control Act, including for the delivery of alcohol to an intoxicated person or to a minor.
H. The department, by rule, shall create a third-party alcohol delivery license and, at a minimum, condition the issuance of a third-party alcohol delivery license on:
(1) requiring that all delivery employees of the third-party alcohol delivery service hold a valid New Mexico alcohol server permit;
(2) requiring proof of general liability insurance coverage with a liquor liability endorsement in an amount not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence;
(3) requiring disclosure of written agreements between licensees and the third-party alcohol delivery service that explicitly ensure that no indemnification or similar agreement shall be effective to transfer liability for the delivery of alcoholic beverages in violation of the Liquor Control Act between licensees, third-party alcohol delivery services and servers; and
(4) any other such requirements that shall ensure that delivery of alcoholic beverages in New Mexico shall be conducted for the public health and safety of its residents.
I. A person, company or licensee that wishes to deliver retail sales of alcohol in New Mexico on behalf of valid retailer's, dispenser's, craft distiller's, winegrower's, small brewer's or restaurant licensees that also hold a valid alcoholic beverage delivery permit shall obtain a third-party alcohol delivery license from the department.
J. An applicant for a third-party alcohol delivery license is required to be authorized to do business in this state, may not share in the profits of the sale of alcohol with a licensee and may only charge a delivery fee that is disclosed to the buyer at the time of sale.
K. A third-party alcohol delivery licensee shall not have the ability to buy, hold or deliver alcohol under its own license but to only allow for delivery of alcohol from a licensed premises and from a qualified licensee with a valid alcoholic beverage delivery permit to the buyer.
L. A third-party alcohol delivery licensee shall be independently liable for the delivery of alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person or to a minor or for any violation of the Liquor Control Act and be subject to suspension, revocation or administrative fine pursuant to Sections 60-6C-1 through 60-6C-6 NMSA 1978.
M. A third-party delivery license shall be valid for one year, and may be renewed."
SECTION 2. Section 60-3A-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter 39, Section 3, as amended by Laws 2019, Chapter 29, Section 2 and by Laws 2019, Chapter 229, Section 3) 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 or pears that contains not less than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume and not more than eight and one-half 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 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 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 pl