Bill Text: TX HB2399 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the use of a biometric identity verification device to verify the age of an individual purchasing an alcoholic beverage.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-22 - Not again placed on intent calendar [HB2399 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB2399-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Goldman (Senate Sponsor - Miles) H.B. No. 2399
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2019;
April 29, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on
Business & Commerce; May 20, 2019, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 20, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of a biometric identity verification device to
verify the age of an individual purchasing an alcoholic beverage.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (29) to read as follows:
(29) "Biometric identity verification device" means a
device that instantly verifies the identity and age of a person by:
(A) taking an electronic scan of a biometric
identifier of the person, including a scan of a fingerprint, an
iris, the face, or another biometric identifier; and
(B) referencing the scan of the identifier
against a record of biometric identifiers associated with
government-issued identification documents where:
(i) the authenticity of the record was
previously verified by an electronic authentication process;
(ii) the identity of and information about
the record holder was previously verified through a secondary
electronic authentication process or process using commercially
available data such as a public records query or a knowledge-based
authentication quiz; and
(iii) the authenticated record is securely
linked to biometric identifiers contemporaneously collected from
the verified record holder and stored in a central, highly secured,
encrypted biometric identifier database.
SECTION 2. Section 106.03, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(b) A person who sells a minor an alcoholic beverage does
not commit an offense if:
(1) the minor falsely represents that the minor is
[himself to be] 21 years old or older by displaying an apparently
valid proof of identification that contains a physical description
and photograph consistent with the minor's appearance, purports to
establish that the minor is 21 years of age or older, and was issued
by a governmental agency; or
(2) the person relies on a verification by a biometric
identity verification device as proof of identification and that
the minor is 21 years of age or older.
(b-1) The proof of identification under Subsection (b)(1)
may include a driver's license or identification card issued by the
Department of Public Safety, a passport, or a military
identification card.
SECTION 3. Section 106.13(c), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The commission or administrator may relax the
provisions of this section concerning suspension and cancellation
and assess a sanction the commission or administrator finds just
under the circumstances if, at a hearing, the licensee or permittee
establishes to the satisfaction of the commission or administrator:
(1) that the violation could not reasonably have been
prevented by the permittee or licensee by the exercise of due
diligence;
(2) that the permittee or licensee was entrapped; [or]
(3) that an agent, servant, or employee of the
permittee or licensee violated this code without the knowledge of
the permittee or licensee; or
(4) that the permittee or licensee or an agent,
servant, or employee of the permittee or licensee relied on a
biometric identity verification device to verify the individual's
age.
SECTION 4. Sections 109.61(a), (b-1), (e), and (f),
Alcoholic Beverage Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person may access electronically readable information
on a driver's license, commercial driver's license, or
identification certificate or provided through a biometric
identity verification device for the purpose of complying with this
code or a rule of the commission, including for the purpose of
preventing the person from committing an offense under this code.
(b-1) Information retained may be printed to hard copy with
a time and date confirmation from the transaction scan device or
biometric identity verification device or transferred to an
electronic encrypted data storage or electronic record. After
printing or transferring data, the transaction scan device or
biometric identity verification device may clear the scanned
information from the device or any memory in the device. The
commission by rule may set further requirements for the retention
of information under this subsection.
(e) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
code, for an offense having as an element the age of a person, that:
(1) a transaction scan device identified the license
or certificate of the purchaser as valid and that the person is over
21, or a biometric identity verification device verified that the
person is 21 years of age or older, and the defendant accessed the
information and relied on the results in good faith; or
(2) if the defendant is the owner of a store in which
alcoholic beverages are sold at retail, the offense occurs in
connection with a sale by an employee of the owner, and the owner
had provided the employee with:
(A) a transaction scan device or biometric
identity verification device in working condition;
(B) adequate training in the use of the
transaction scan device or biometric identity verification device;
and
(C) the defendant did not directly or indirectly
encourage the employee to violate the law.
(f) The defense offered in Subsection (e) applies [does not
apply] in actions to cancel, deny, or suspend the license or permit,
except as provided by rules adopted by the commission under Section
5.31.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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