Proposed new regulations implementing AB 1221 (2017) “as currently written go far beyond the simple intent of the law and if passed, will create a massive ABC bureaucracy rivaling that of the Department of Motor Vehicles in cost, size and complexity, John Hinman, the California liquor license attorney warns.
“The regulations propose to collect personal data on every person in California who works in the alcohol sector of the hospitality industry and require scientific training of every server before being allowed to pour a glass of wine, and mandates hundreds of changes to current industry customer service practices.
“The proposed regulations will affect EVERY person who serves alcohol throughout the state whether in a restaurant, hotel, bar, tasting room, stadium, concert, wedding, tourist park, or even at a charitable event. The ABC preliminarily estimates these regulations will affect about 1 million workers in California. Our estimate, based on the number of ABC licensed hospitality businesses in the state, is ten times that number.”
The proposed regulations provide that after July 2020, “no person may be hired as a waiter/waitress, bartender, tasting room personnel unless that person is CERTIFIED BY THE ABC that he/she has successfully passed the mandatory alcohol beverage server training program and has passed the test given by the ABC with a 70% or higher grade.”
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control held a hearing on Oct. 11 that Hinman describes as a sham. He urges interested parties to file comments on the proposed regulation by noon, Nov. 4, and to contact their legislators about the proposed regulation going far beyond what the 2017 Act contemplated.