HB 2099 — Streamlining distillery licensing and fees.

H-1866.1SUBSTITUTEH-0141.1HOUSE HOUSE BILL 2099State of Washington65th Legislature2017 Regular SessionBy House Commerce & Gaming (originally sponsored by Representative Blake)READBlakeRead FIRSTfirst TIMEtime 02/17/17.AN02/14/17. ACT Relating to streamlining distillery licensing and fees;

Referred to Committee on Commerce & Gaming.AN ACT Relating to streamlining distillery licensing and fees;

Brewer includes a brand owner of malt beverages who holds a brewer's notice with the federal bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms at a location outside the state and whose malt beverage is contract-produced by a licensed in-state brewery, and who may exercise within the state, under a domestic brewery license, only the privileges of storing, selling to licensed beer distributors, and exporting beer from the state.(8) "Club" means an organization of persons, incorporated or unincorporated, operated solely for fraternal, benevolent, educational, athletic, or social purposes, and not for pecuniary gain.(9) "Confection" means a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts, dairy products, or flavorings, in the form of bars, drops, or pieces.(10) "Consume" includes the putting of liquor to any use, whether by drinking or otherwise.(11) "Contract liquor store" means a business that sells liquor on behalf of the board through a contract with a contract liquor store manager.(12) (("Craft distillery" means a distillery that pays the reduced licensing fee under RCW 66.24.140.(13))) "Dentist" means a practitioner of dentistry duly and regularly licensed and engaged in the practice of his or her profession within the state pursuant to chapter 18.32 RCW.(((14))) (13) "Distiller" means a person engaged in the business of ((distilling)) producing or manufacturing spirits.(((15))) (14) "Domestic brewery" means a place where beer and malt liquor are manufactured or produced by a brewer within the state.(((16))) (15) "Domestic winery" means a place where wines are manufactured or produced within the state of Washington.(((17))) (16) "Drug store" means a place whose principal business is, the sale of drugs, medicines, and pharmaceutical preparations and maintains a regular prescription department and employs a registered pharmacist during all hours the drug store is open.(((18))) (17) "Druggist" means any person who holds a valid certificate and is a registered pharmacist and is duly and regularly engaged in carrying on the business of pharmaceutical chemistry pursuant to chapter 18.64 RCW.(((19))) (18) "Employee" means any person employed by the board.(((20))) (19) "Flavored malt beverage" means:(a) A malt beverage containing six percent or less alcohol by volume to which flavoring or other added nonbeverage ingredients are added that contain distilled spirits of not more than forty-nine percent of the beverage's overall alcohol content;

and (ii) wines that contain more than fourteen percent alcohol by volume solely as a result of the natural fermentation process and that have not been produced with the addition of wine spirits, brandy, or alcohol.(b) This subsection ((shall)) may not be interpreted to require that any wine be labeled with the designation "table wine" or "fortified wine."(((48))) (47) "Wine distributor" means a person who buys wine from a domestic winery, wine certificate of approval holder, or wine importer, or who acquires foreign produced wine from a source outside of the United States, for the purpose of selling the same not in violation of this title, or who represents such vintner or winery as agent.(((49))) (48) "Wine importer" means a person or business within Washington who purchases wine from a wine certificate of approval holder or who acquires foreign produced wine from a source outside of the United States for the purpose of selling the same pursuant to this title.(((50))) (49) "Winery" means a business conducted by any person for the manufacture of wine for sale, other than a domestic winery.Sec. 2.  RCW 66.24.140 and 2015 c 194 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:(1) There is a license to distillers, including blending((,))blending, orrectifying, rectifying((,)) and bottling;

fee ((twotwo thousand))((thousand)) one hundred tenfifty dollars per annum, unless provided otherwise as follows:(a) ((For distillers producing one hundred fifty thousand gallons or less of spirits with at least half of the raw materials used in the production grown in Washington, the license fee must be reduced to one hundred dollars per annum;(b))) The board must license stills used and to be used solely and only by a commercial chemist for laboratory purposes, and not for the manufacture of liquor for sale, at a fee of twenty dollars per annum;(((c))) (b) The board must license stills used and to be used solely and only for laboratory purposes in any school, college, or educational institution in the state, without fee;

The wine or spirits ((shall)) must be ((made)) produced or manufactured upon the premises of a domestic winery or ((craft)) distillery licensee and is referred to in this section as grower's wine or grower's spirits.