House Bill 5668

Committee: Employment Relations, Training and Safety

Complete to 5-5-00

A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 5668 AS INTRODUCED 4-20-00

Public Act 331 of 1998 amended the Michigan Liquor Control Code to require the Liquor Control Commission to establish a voluntary "server training program" for retail liquor licensees (such as bars and restaurants). The training program is to educate those who sell alcoholic beverages on topics such as:

identification of the progressive stages of intoxication and visible signs of those stages;

basic alcohol content in different types of mixed drinks;

personal skills to handle slow-down of service and intervention procedures;

techniques for determining the validity of identification; and,

understanding of laws pertaining to minors attempting to purchase alcohol, minors in possession of alcohol, furnishing of alcohol to minors by adults, and so forth.

A retail licensee can be designated as a "responsible vendor" if the licensee makes the training program available to its employees, and has been free of convictions or administrative determinations involving prohibited sales for at least one year.

House Bill 5668 would amend the code to require the commission to establish a server training program designed for all new retail licensees or transferees. It would require new licensees, and existing licensees with repeated violations of the code involving serving alcohol, to have at least their supervisory personnel complete the server training program. Under the bill, licensees who received a liquor license on or after March 1, 2001 would be required to have on the licensed premises, during all hours in which alcohol was served, at a minimum, supervisory personnel who had completed the training program. Violation of this provision would be cause for license revocation, suspension, or other sanction, but it would not be a criminal offense (as are some violations of the code). Further, beginning March 1, 2001, the commission could not issue a new

retail license or transfer an existing license unless the applicant or transferee offered proof of meeting the requirements of the bill. The bill specifies that the commission could consider a person who was enrolled and actively participating in a training program as having successfully completed the program.

MCL 436.501 and 436.1906

Analyst: D. Martens

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.