Bill

SB 896

85(R) - 2017
Senate Business & Commerce
Senate Business & Commerce
Alcoholic Beverage Code

Vote Recommendation

Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral

Author(s)

Kel Seliger

Bill Caption

Relating to the status, regulation, and taxation of powdered alcohol as an alcoholic beverage; creating an offense.

Fiscal Notes

From the Legislative Budget Board: there could be an indeterminate amount of increased liquor tax revenue deposited to the General Revenue Fund, depending on future sales volumes of powdered alcohol.

Bill Analysis

SB 896 would amend the Alcoholic Beverage Code to add that a person may not sell powdered alcohol to an ultimate consumer unless the powdered alcohol is sealed in single-serving packages containing no more than 14 grams of powdered alcohol. The tax rate would be $2.40 per gallon.

Vote Recommendation Notes

During the 84th Legislature the House considered HB 1018 which would have banned powdered alcohol in its entirety. In our vote recommendation on HB 1018 we recommended the bill be amended to stipulate the powdered alcohol is subject to the same regulations as liquor, which this bill by and large does. Though we would rather see regulations reduced overall, we are pleased to see that instead of banning a substance altogether, this bill would establish uniform regulation of alcoholic beverages. We do believe the packaging and advertising provisions in this bill are unnecessary.

For these reasons, we will remain neutral on SB 896.

Organizations Supporting

Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas