HBA-ALS, RAR H.B. 412 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 412 By: Denny Licensing and Administrative Procedures 3/9/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, the holder of a winery permit (permit holder) is allowed to sell and dispense free wine to consumers for consumption on or off the winery premises only if the winery is located in a city that lies in three or more counties, one of which has a population of 500,000 or more and has all or part of an international airport within its boundaries. The purpose of this bill is to increase economic development and economic diversification in other regions of the state through the growth of the wine industry. H.B. 412 allows a permit holder to sell and dispense free wine to consumers for consumption on or off the winery premises if the winery is in a county that has a population of at least 270,000 and is adjacent to two or more counties with a population of at least one million. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 16.01(d), Alcoholic Beverage Code, to add a county that has a population of 270,000 or more and is adjacent to two or more counties with a population of one million or more as a location in which the holder of a winery permit is authorized to sell or dispense free of charge wine to ultimate consumers for on or off-premises consumption. Redesignates existing Subdivisions (1) and (2) to Paragraphs (A) and (B) respectively. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.