House unanimously passes two bills from Rep. Kevin Waters, including one to clarify alcohol server permit statutes

The Washington State House of Representatives unanimously passed two bills from Rep. Kevin Waters, including one clarifying alcohol server permit rules.

House Bill 1698 would clarify that all persons selling and serving alcohol for on-premises consumption at a licensed facility need to obtain an alcohol server permit

Rep. Kevin Waters‘ bill that would change the definitions under the alcohol server permit statutes is headed to the Senate after receiving unanimous approval from the Washington State House of Representatives this week.

House Bill 1698 would clarify that all persons selling and serving alcohol for on-premises consumption at a licensed facility need to obtain an alcohol server permit. It would also eliminate special liquor permits and public house liquor licenses.

“This is not a complicated proposal, but it has several small, important changes to clarify the mandatory alcohol server training statutes,” said Waters, R-Vancouver. “This bill would clarify that if you’re an employee involved with selling of alcohol on premise, then you need to have a permit.”

Under HB 1698, the term “retail-licensed premises” would change to “on-premises licensed facility” for statutes regulating alcohol servers. References to specific licenses would be removed from the definition.

Instead, the new definition would reference all licensed facilities that sell or serve alcohol by the glass, drink, or in original containers primarily for on-premises consumption, including on-premises tasting activities regulated under the state’s alcohol laws.

Breweries, microbreweries, beer and wine specialty shops, and spirit retailers with tasting activities would also be included in the definition of an on-premises licensed facility.

Waters added, “Every licensee should know what is expected of them, but current statutes are confusing. This policy would provide needed clarification in the industry and ensure everyone who serves alcohol is following the same rules.”

Meanwhile, the House also unanimously passed House Bill 1731 this week. It would allow museums to notify museum item owners in a more modern way that they have unclaimed property. Currently, they use publications in newspapers and other older methods of contact, which the public doesn’t often see. This would allow them to contact property owners via email, phone, or text.

“Unclaimed property takes up a tremendous amount of space in our museums, which is one of the biggest issues curators deal with, especially in small town museums,” said Waters. “This bill would simply allow museums to use modern technology to inform item owners they can collect their belongings.”

Under HB 1731, museums or societies would have to post a notice at least once a week for three consecutive weeks using a more modern method, including posting on the institution’s official website, sending emails to known owner addresses or public lists, or attempting to call any known phone numbers of the owner.

Both bills now head to the Senate for further consideration.

Information provided by Washington State House Republicans, houserepublicans.wa.gov