Vermont H 655: An act relating to telehealth licensure and registration and to provisional licensure for professions regulated by the Office of Professional Regulation

Bill Text

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VT LEG #386353 v.1
H.655 1
Introduced by Representatives Boyden of Cambridge and Birong of Vergennes 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Alcoholic beverages, cannabis, and tobacco; Board of Liquor and 5
Lottery; Division of Liquor Control; licensing; sale of alcoholic 6
beverages for off-premises consumption; special events permits; local 7
control commissioners 8
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to amend 9
various provisions of Title 7 to change the term length for members of the 10
Board of Liquor and Lottery from three years to four years, eliminate the 11
specific limitation on the hours of sale for licensees who sell alcoholic 12
beverages for off-premises consumption pursuant to 7 V.S.A. § 230, state that 13
special events permits are subject to approval by the local control 14
commissioners in conformance with the definition of “special event permit” in 15
Title 7, eliminate language that requires an applicant for a solicitor’s license to 16
pay the license fee with a certified check, and remove the prospective 2026 17
repeal of the “retail establishment” provisions of the statutes governing special 18
venue serving permits. 19
An act relating to alcoholic beverages and the Board of Liquor and Lottery 20

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It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 1
Sec. 1. 7 V.S.A. § 101 is amended to read: 2
§ 101. COMPOSITION OF DEPARTMENT; COMMISSIONER OF 3
LIQUOR AND LOTTERY; BOARD OF LIQUOR AND LOTTERY 4
* * * 5
(b)(1) The Board of Liquor and Lottery shall consist of five persons. Not 6
all members of the Board shall belong to the same political party. 7
(2)(A) With the advice and consent of the Senate, the Governor shall 8
appoint the members of the Board for staggered three-year four-year terms. 9
* * * 10
Sec. 2. 7 V.S.A. § 230 is amended to read: 11
§ 230. SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR OFF-PREMISES 12
CONSUMPTION 13
* * * 14
(c) A licensee may sell alcoholic beverages pursuant to this section 15
between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. [Repealed.] 16
* * * 17
Sec. 3. 7 V.S.A. § 252 is amended to read: 18
§ 252. SPECIAL EVENT PERMITS 19
(a)(1) The Division of Liquor Control may issue a special event permit for 20
an event open to the public that has been approved by the local control 21

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commissioners if the application is submitted to the Division of Liquor Control 1
with the fee provided in section 204 of this title at least five days prior to the 2
date of the event. 3
* * * 4
Sec. 4. 7 V.S.A. § 275 is amended to read: 5
§ 275. SOLICITOR’S LICENSE 6
(a) The Board of Liquor and Lottery may grant an individual a solicitor’s 7
license if he or she the individual does all of the following: 8
* * * 9
(3) Pays the fee provided in section 204 of this title to the Division of 10
Liquor Control by certified check made payable to the State of Vermont. The 11
certified check payment shall be returned to the applicant if the Board does not 12
grant him or her the individual a license under this section. 13
* * * 14
Sec. 5. 2024 Acts and Resolves No. 156, Secs. 3 and 4 are amended to read: 15
* * * 2026 Sunset of Special Venue Serving Permits 16
for Retail Establishments * * * 17
Sec. 3. 7 V.S.A. § 254 is amended to read: 18
§ 254. SPECIAL VENUE SERVING PERMITS 19

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(a) The Division of Liquor Control may grant an art gallery, retail 1
establishment, public library, or museum a special venue serving permit if the 2
applicant has: 3
* * * 4
(e) An art gallery, retail establishment, public library, or museum may be 5
issued not more than 12 special venue serving permits in a calendar year. 6
(f) As used in this section, “retail establishment” does not include a 7
Vermont agency liquor store or a cannabis establishment as that term is 8
defined in section 861 of this title. [Deleted.] 9
Sec. 4. 7 V.S.A. § 2 is amended to read: 10
§ 2. DEFINITIONS 11
As used in this title: 12
* * * 13
(38) “Special venue serving permit” means a permit granted by the 14
Division of Liquor Control permitting an art gallery, retail establishment, 15
public library, or museum to conduct an event at which malt or vinous 16
beverages, or both, are served by the glass to the public. As used in this 17
section, “art gallery” means a fixed establishment whose primary purpose is to 18
exhibit or offer for sale works of art; “public library” has the same meaning as 19
in 22 V.S.A. § 101; and “museum” has the same meaning as in 27 V.S.A. 20
§ 1151. As used in this section, “retail establishment” does not include a 21

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Vermont agency liquor store or a cannabis establishment as that term is 1
defined in section 861 of this title. 2
* * * 3
[Deleted.] 4
Sec. 6. 2024 Acts and Resolves No. 156, Sec. 11 is amend