MONTGOMERY — Members of the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board approved a rule change Thursday reforming online responsible vendor training for employees at establishments with liquor licenses across the state.
State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) delayed about $80 million in contracts with state agencies and boards last week due to a dispute over the ABC Board's implementation of a 2023 law sponsored by Elliott allowing establishments with liquor licenses to receive voluntary "responsible vendor" training online rather than just in person.
The Alabama Responsible Vendor Program is a voluntary program that allows licensees to become certified through the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Alabama's program requires the licensee to train all employees involved in the management, sale and service of alcoholic beverages. This training includes Alabama alcoholic beverage laws, legal age determination, civil and criminal penalties and risk-reducing techniques. Licensees who voluntarily join the program are also required to establish policies ensuring legal, responsible sales and to train employees in these policies.
The new ABC rule change allows employee applicants to take the responsible vendor test online and pass with an 80% or better score.
Elliott told board members on Tuesday in a letter that he was pre-filing legislation that would bypass the ABC's rulemaking authority on the topic.
2024 11.12 Letter to ABC Board by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
Elliott said after the ABC Board approved his requested rule change on Thursday, "I've gotten in the habit of late of drafting legislation that gets the bureaucracy moving in the right direction sometimes, and it's not necessary, saves everybody a bunch of time."
"You just have to go through the exercise sometimes. I appreciate them working with us. I appreciated when things kind of blew up seven days ago, and seven days later, we've got a perfectly reasonable solution and are very much on the right track. Alabama is a very business-friendly state taken on the whole and it seems like today we can keep saying that," Elliott told 1819 News.
Elliott said he'd already released contract holds from last week's Contract Review meeting.
Online responsible vendor training rules were on the agendas for the previous two ABC Board meetings. Board members moved to table the issue both times. ABC Board staff and restaurant and business groups have disagreed over what the rules should look like. At previous meetings, ABC Board staff had said that applicants undergoing the training should score 100% to pass the test or review questions they missed. Industry groups wanted the rules to be pass/fail.
Mindy Hanan, president and CEO of the Alabama Restaurant & Hospitality Association, told 1819 News after the meeting her organization welcomed the rule change.
"It was so difficult for businesses to accomplish a lot of what was required to be a part of it. They did the right thing, and we want to make Alabama a business-friendly state. There will be a lot more opportunity for people to get training because right now they either had to schedule a Zoom with somebody or they had to go to a class somewhere. A lot of these people work at night who are servers (and) there's not a class at night. I don't know what they're doing during the day, they might not have child care. To have a class online, available on demand, is different than going to a class, so it will be a lot better," Hanan said.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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