Liquor, gaming bills done
Pub Date: 5/1/2007
At Montana Tavern Times news deadline, with just two days left in the scheduled 90-day legislative session, the House and Senate remained deadlocked over important budget considerations.
However, bills affecting licensed hospitality businesses had cleared the decks, either dying at the hands of committees or the respective chambers, or having passed and been sent to the governor for his signature.
Late introductions that caught the attention of licensees were the similar SB650 and HB839, sponsored respectively by Sen. Christine Kaufmann, (D) Helena, and Rep. Mary Caferro, (D) Helena.
In a session heavily influenced by a projected $1 billion surplus, the bills nevertheless called for a nearly $30 million annual increase in taxes on gaming establishments which would have added $17,000 to the average licensee's tax bill.
Sen Kaufman's bill, characterized by Montana Tavern Association Government Affairs Counsel Mark Staples as "misguided," would have taxed an establishment's first $37,500 of gaming revenue at 15 percent, the next $75,000 at 22.5 percent and all revenue over $112,500 at 30 percent. The current tax is set at 15 percent for all revenue.
Rep. Caferro's bill, HB839, would have left the current tax in place for the first $10,000 in quarterly revenue, then would double it for all revenue over that.
The money would have been earmarked for children's health care services and an attached fiscal note called for $164 million to be spent each year: $29 million from gaming licensees, $15 million from the general fund and the balance in highly speculative federal funding.
SB560 had a hearing before the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee March 30 and was tabled April 2. A motion before the full Senate the same day to blast the bill from committee failed 16 to 34.
HB839 met a similar fate. It had a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee the morning of April 2 but the committee did not act before the April 3 deadline to transmit revenue bills to the Senate, so the bill died.
Sen. Kaufmann also proposed more than doubling the tax on beer sold by large brewers. Her SB559 would have raised the tax rate from $4.30 per barrel to $9 for brewers producing over 20,000 barrels annually. Again, the taxes would have been earmarked for health care programs.
The bill was referred to the Senate Taxation Committee March 16, was heard March 23 and tabled March 26.
Some other bills of interest to licensed businesses that were still alive when the April edition of the Tavern Times went to press, but have since been acted upon are:
Senate Bill (SB)127 (wineries) and its companion SB524 (breweries), both sponsored by Sen. Dave Wanzenried, (D) Missoula, would allow all licensed wineries and breweries to make limited volume sales and shipments to licensed retailers.
SB127 passed both chambers with substantial majorities and was on its way to the Governor's desk. SB524 cleared the Senate and was heard before House Business and Labor April 2, passing 16-0 the same day. Amendments were approved by the full House 65-35 and the bill was expected to make its way to the Governor for his signature.
The pair of bills was meant to bring Montana law into compliance with a May, 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said states cannot discriminate in favor of in-state wineries when it comes to direct sales and shipping to retailers and consumers.
SB140 - Sen. Dan Weinberg, (D) Whitefish, to revise small business health insurance pools, which was referred to Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety, received a 49-0 approval by the full Senate before being transmitted to the House and assigned to Business and Labor March 8.
It languished in committee until being heard and tabled April 3.
SB296 - Sen. Dan Weinberg, (D) Whitefish, would revise the restaurant beer and wine licensing law to allow approximately twice as many for given quota jurisdictions. It passed the full Senate 45-5 and was sent to the House Business and Labor Committee where it had its first hearing April 2 before Business and Labor and passed 15-1 the same day. The full House approved it 77-22 April 13 and sent it to the Governor. MTA supports this legislation.
SB540 - Verdell Jackson, (R) Kalispell, as amended, would allow retail businesses to sell antique--though illegal--gaming devices and to possess them for the purpose of resale and not for operation. "Antique" is defined as being more than 25 years old.
The bill passed the full Senate 45-5 and was sent to the House where it had its first hearing before Business and Labor March 21. It passed the committee 12-4 March 27 and the full House 81-18 March 29. The Senate voted 44-6 April 19 to accept the House amendments and it was on its way to the Governor.
The bill was an apparent response to the Montana Gambling Control Division seizing illegal roulette wheels, craps tables and punchboards from a Whitefish antiques dealer Jan. 31, so applies retroactively to cover that case.
SJ2 - A Senate/House joint resolution, sponsored by Sen. Frank Smith, (D) Poplar, calls for an interim legislative study of DUI laws to report to the 2009 Legislature. It passed the full Senate 46-4 January 31 and was transmitted to the House where it was heard and passed 9-8 March 28 by the Judiciary Committee. The full house passed it 52-46 April 14 and it was filed with the Secretary of State April 23. Whether it receives funding is yet to be seen.
House Bill (HB)113 - Rep. Bill McChesney, (D) Miles City, will statutorily strike Montana's residency requirements, in accordance with recent court decisions, for liquor licensees and clarifies the approval process for corporations where no individual owns 10 percent of more of the stock, and for other business entities such as partnerships, limited liability companies and so on.
It passed the full House 65-34 February 24 and was sent to the Senate where it received a 6-5 Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee concurrance March 21. A March 31 Senate motion to amend passed 25-24 and the bill ultimately passed the full Senate April 3 on a 39-9 vote. It was signed by the Governor April 17.
HB190 - Bill Thomas, (D) Great Falls, revises the Montana card game act. It clarifies what are social cards games, clarifies "house player," revises dealer licensing processes and posting of game rules, allows for progressive tournaments and for a portion of a tournament prize to be a buy-in fee for a subsequent tournament, restricts total tournament buy-ins to $2,500, requires at least 50 percent of entrance fees for charitable tournaments be returned to the designated charity and stipulates that card tournaments are not allowable during "casino nights."
The bill passed both chambers handily and was signed by the Governor March 30.
HB300[b] - Mike Milburn, (R) Cascade, would stipulate that a statement on a liquor license application or at a hearing that is based upon an assertion made by a governmental officer, employee, or agent that an applicant relied upon in good faith may not be used as the basis for a denial or revocation of a license.
A licensee in Ulm relied on a statement by a county surveyor in 2005 to apply for a county all-beverage license. It was later discovered the survey was inaccurate and the state moved to revoke the license based on a "false statement" contained in the application.
The bill received a 93-7 approval from the full House February 7. It was then sent to the Senate and heard by the Judiciary Committee March 23 which concurred 12-0 March 29. The full Senate approved the bill 49-0 March 31 and sent it back to the House to approve amendments, which it did 85-12 April 10. It had been sent to the Governor April 16 and his signature was anticipated.
[b]HB390 - Rep. Bill Nooney, (R) Missoula, would allow telephone account wagering on internet horse or greyhound racing held in or outside the state with a portion of fees distributed to a licensing board, race meet licensees, a horse owner bonus program and a breeder bonus program.
The bill was approved by the House 77-21 March 23 and it was transmitted to the Senate and assigned to Business, Labor and Economic Affairs, where it got an 8-3 nod March 30. The full Senate gave it a 37-13 thumbs up April 18 and it was presumeably to be sent to the Governor.
HB492 - Rep. Dennis Himmelberger, (R) Billings, would have no longer allowed excluding all tip income from minimum wage calculations (would have allowed a "tip tax credit" as is done in 44 other states). It would also fix the minimum wage for food service servers at $6.15 an hour. This bill was primarily championed by the Montana Restaurant Association.
It passed third reading in the House February 26 on a 51-49 vote (all Republicans in favor, all Democrats opposed) and was transmitted to the Senate and assigned to Taxation where it had a hearing scheduled March 23. It was tabled in committee April 2 (again, all Republicans in favor, all Democrats opposed).
HB616 - Rep. Bill McChesney, would allow sports fantasy leagues on tote boards for the benefit of horse racing. It received 64-35 House approval February 20 and was sent to the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs committee where it was given an 8-3 nod by the committee March 23.
The full Senate approved it 33-14 March 31 before sending it to Finance and Claims where it received a 15-4 endorsement. On April 16, the full Senate approved 36-14 and it was sent back to the House for consideration of amendments. The House concurred 70-30 April 19 and the bill was sent to the Governor.
HB633 - Rep. Ernie Dutton, (R) Billings, would restrict gambling rights for new-issue all-beverage licenses that were acquired by "floating" and a lottery.
It would also require lottery applicants to provide proof of a $100,000 line of credit, would restrict lottery applications to one annually, exclude those who already have an all-beverage license from applying and would require a lottery license be in use in a business within one year of being issued.
The bill had MTA support and an 84-16 approval by the full House February 19. It was sent to the Senate and assigned to Business, Labor and Economic where it passed10-1. Sen. Joe Tropila, (D) Great Falls, carried it on the Senate floor the next day and garnered a 47-3 concurrence.
It was returned as amended to the House which concurred 85-12 April 11. It awaits the Governor's signature.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, May. 2007, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.