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Date Published: February 26, 2004
Career center, minibottle bills pass state Senate
By BRADEN BUNCH
Item Staff Writer
bradenb@theitem.com
The state Senate has passed a compromise proposal submitted by Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, that would allow state voters to decide in November if they want bartenders to be able to use either minibottles or one-liter bottles when making drinks.
The compromise, approved on the Senate floor on a voice vote without opposition, ends a filibuster that Leventis had started weeks ago over concerns that eliminating minibottles would cost the state millions of dollars in tax revenue.
“The proponents wanted to offer free pour, and opponents, me and others, wanted to be sure that the tax revenues were protected,” Leventis said. “I think we both got what we wanted.”
As part of the compromise, one-liter bottles will be removed from retail shelves and only be sold to businesses.
If this new version of the legislation is ultimately approved, the one-liter bottles would be taxed up front and companies caught refilling or diluting free-pour bottles would face heavy fines.
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Currently, minibottles are taxed 25 cents a bottle, plus additional taxes on the cases they come in.
With the amendment, a $7.35 tax would be placed on all one-liter bottles of alcohol.
The legislation actually consists of two bills, one that would place the referendum before the voters and another that would establish new rules governing alcohol sales should the referendum pass.
The bill now heads to the state House of Representatives, while a House bill similar to the one Leventis filibustered comes to the Senate.
“I imagine what we’ll do is amend it and send it to the House,” said Leventis, president of Dixie Beverage Co., a beer distribution company.
South Carolina is the only state that requires the use of minibottles in its bars and restaurants.
Also on Wednesday, the state Senate approved adding a seventh member to the Sumter County Career Center board.
The bill is expected to go to the governor sometime next week, Leventis said.
If signed, the Industrial Association of the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce would nominate three candidates for the legislative delegation to choose the new member from.
The career center board is currently made up of two delegation appointees, two Sumter School District 2 appointees and two Sumter School District 17 appointees.
The even-numbered trustees began calling for a seventh member shortly after the body deadlocked in a 3-3 vote in July on whether to renew the contract of Director Furman Vaughn.
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March 31, 2004
