Bill Text: MI HB4815 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Liquor: spirits; cap or additional amount the liquor control commission may pay a vendor of spirits; eliminate. Amends sec. 205 of 1998 PA 58 (MCL 436.1205).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-06-20 - Introduced By Representative Brandt Iden [HB4815 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2019-HB4815-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4815
July 18, 2019, Introduced by Rep. Iden and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.
A bill to amend 1998 PA 58, entitled
"Michigan liquor control code of 1998,"
by amending section 205 (MCL 436.1205), as amended by 2015 PA 246.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 205. (1) The commission shall, as provided in section
203(1), by order appoint authorized distribution agents to
warehouse and deliver spirits in this state to ensure that all
retail licensees are properly serviced with spirits. An authorized
distribution agent is subject to uniform requirements, including
business operating procedures, that the commission may prescribe by
rule, subject to this section.
(2) A person is eligible for appointment by the commission as
an authorized distribution agent if all of the following
circumstances exist:
(a) The person satisfies all applicable commission rules
prescribing qualifications for licensure promulgated under section
215.
(b) The person has entered into a written agreement or
contract with a supplier of spirits to warehouse and deliver a
brand or brands of spirits of that supplier of spirits.
(c) The person has an adequate warehousing facility located in
this state to store spirits from which all delivery of spirits to
retail licensees must be made.
(3) An authorized distribution agent shall not have a direct
or indirect interest in a supplier of spirits or in a retailer. A
supplier of spirits or a retailer shall not have a direct or
indirect interest in an authorized distribution agent. An
authorized distribution agent shall not hold title to spirits.
(4) An authorized distribution agent shall deliver to each
retailer located in its assigned distribution area on at least a
weekly basis if the order meets the minimum requirements. Except
that in a week that accompanies a state holiday, the commission may
order a modified delivery schedule if a retailer will not wait
longer than 9 days between deliveries because of the modified
delivery schedule. The commission shall provide for an integrated
on-line
online ordering system for spirits and shall require the
continuance of any ordering system in existence on the activation
date of the system established under section 206. The commission
shall set minimum requirements that must be a sufficient number of
bottles to comprise not more than 2 cases. A retailer may pick up
the product at the authorized distribution agent's warehouse. To
avoid occasional emergency outages of spirits, a retail licensee
may make up to 12 special emergency orders to an authorized
distribution agent in each calendar year. An authorized
distribution agent shall make a special emergency order available
to the retail licensee within 18 hours of the placing of the order.
An authorized distribution agent shall make a special emergency
order placed on Saturday or Sunday available to the retail licensee
before noon on the following Monday. An authorized distribution
agent may impose a fee of up to $20.00 to deliver a special
emergency order to a retail licensee.
(5) In locations inaccessible to a motor vehicle as that term
is defined by the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.1 to
257.923, an authorized distribution agent shall arrange that a
delivery of spirits to a retailer be in compliance with the
following procedures:
(a) After processing an order from a retailer, an authorized
distribution agent shall contact a retailer to confirm the quantity
of cases or bottles, or both, and the exact dollar total of the
order.
(b) The authorized distribution agent shall coordinate with
the retailer the date and time a driver is scheduled to deliver the
order to a ferry transport dock, shall arrange any ferry, drayage,
or other appropriate service, and shall pick up the retailer's
payment at that time.
(c) The ferry transport company or company representing any
other form of conveyance shall take the retailer's payment to the
mainland dock and give that payment to the authorized distribution
agent's driver.
(d) The ferry transport company or company representing any
other form of conveyance shall transport the order to the drayage
or other appropriate company at the island dock for immediate
delivery to the retailer.
(e) The drayage or other appropriate company shall deliver the
order to the retailer.
(6) An authorized distribution agent is responsible for the
payment of all transportation and delivery charges imposed by the
ferry, drayage, or other conveyance company and is responsible for
all breakage and any shortages, whether attributable to the ferry,
drayage, or other conveyance company or any combination of those
companies, until the order is delivered to the retailer's
establishment. This subsection does not prevent the authorized
distribution agent from seeking reimbursement or damages from any
company conveying the authorized distribution agent's product.
(7) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4), an
authorized distribution agent shall not charge a delivery fee or a
split-case fee for delivery of spirits sold by the commission to a
retailer.
(8) An authorized distribution agent or prospective authorized
distribution agent shall maintain and make available to the
commission or its representatives, on notice, any contract or
written agreement it has with a supplier of spirits or other
authorized distribution agent for the warehousing and delivering of
spirits in this state.
(9) For a violation of this act, a rule promulgated under this
act, or the terms of an order appointing an authorized distribution
agent, an authorized distribution agent is subject to the
suspension, revocation, forfeiture, and penalty provisions of
sections 903(1) and 907 in the same manner in which a licensee
would be subject to those provisions. An authorized distribution
agent aggrieved by a penalty imposed by the commission may invoke
the hearing and appeal procedures of section 903(2) and rules
promulgated
under that section 903.
(10) A specially designated distributor may sell to an on-
premises licensee up to 9 liters of spirits during any 1 month and
an on-premises licensee may purchase, collectively from specially
designated distributors, up to 9 liters of spirits during any 1
month. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act or rule
promulgated under this act, a specially designated distributor is
only liable for knowingly violating this section. An on-premises
licensee
shall maintain and make available to the commission upon
on request records verifying the purchases described in this
subsection.
(11) In addition to paying a vendor of spirits the acquisition
price for purchasing spirits, the commission may pay a vendor of
spirits
an additional amount of not less than $4.50 and not more
than
$8.25 for each case of spirits
purchased as an offset to the
costs being incurred by that vendor of spirits in contracting with
an authorized distribution agent for warehousing and delivering
spirits to retailers. The payment described in this subsection may
not be included in the cost of purchasing spirits by the commission
and is not subject to the commission's markup, special taxes, or
state sales tax. The per-case offset established by this subsection
may be increased by the state administrative board each January to
reflect reasonable increases in the authorized distribution agent's
cost of warehousing and delivering. As used in this subsection,
"case" means a container holding twelve 750 ml bottles of spirits
or other containers containing spirits that are standard to the
industry.