Alcoholic beverage control: license renewal fees: waiver.

Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the application, issuance, and suspension of licenses for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. Existing law provides for the issuance of licenses for which various fees, including renewal fees, are charged depending upon the type of license issued. Existing law, for the purpose of providing economic relief to licensees most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, authorizes the department to waive license renewal fees, as defined, for licenses that expire between March 1, 2021, and February 28, 2023, inclusive. Existing law provides that the waiver of license renewal fees applies only to specified license types that were active, as defined by the department in its guidelines, between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020, inclusive. Existing law requires a licensee who requests a fee waiver to certify under penalty of perjury that they qualify for the waiver. This bill would renumber that provision and expand the license types eligible for the above-described waiver of license renewal fees. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would appropriate the sum of $3,000,000 from the General Fund to the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund to be used by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to backfill revenues related to waiving alcohol license renewal fees and applicable surcharges for such licenses, as described above. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.