[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5034 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5034

To support State based alcohol regulation, to clarify evidentiary rules 
for alcohol matters, to ensure the collection of all alcohol taxes, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2010

 Mr. Delahunt (for himself, Mr. Coble, Mr. Chaffetz, and Mr. Quigley) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To support State based alcohol regulation, to clarify evidentiary rules 
for alcohol matters, to ensure the collection of all alcohol taxes, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory 
Effectiveness (CARE) Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this Act to--
            (1) recognize that alcohol is different from other consumer 
        products and that it should be regulated effectively by the 
        States according to the laws thereof; and
            (2) reaffirm and protect the primary authority of States to 
        regulate alcoholic beverages.

SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR STATE ALCOHOL REGULATION.

    The Act entitled ``An Act divesting intoxicating liquors of their 
interstate character in certain cases'', approved March 1, 1913 (27 
U.S.C. 122 et seq.), commonly known as the ``Webb-Kenyon Act'', is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR STATE ALCOHOL REGULATION.

    ``(a) Declaration of Policy.--It is the policy of Congress that 
each State or territory shall continue to have the primary authority to 
regulate alcoholic beverages.
    ``(b) Construction of Congressional Silence.--Silence on the part 
of Congress shall not be construed to impose any barrier under clause 3 
of section 8 of article I of the Constitution (commonly referred to as 
the `Commerce Clause') to the regulation by a State or territory of 
alcoholic beverages. However, State or territorial regulations may not 
facially discriminate, without justification, against out-of-state 
producers of alcoholic beverages in favor of in-state producers.
    ``(c) Presumption of Validity and Burden of Proof.--The following 
shall apply in any legal action challenging, under the Commerce Clause 
or an Act of Congress, a State or territory law regarding the 
regulation of alcoholic beverages:
            ``(1) The State or territorial law shall be accorded a 
        strong presumption of validity.
            ``(2) The party challenging the State or territorial law 
        shall in all phases of any such legal action bear the burden of 
        proving its invalidity by clear and convincing evidence.
            ``(3) Notwithstanding that the State or territorial law may 
        burden interstate commerce or may be inconsistent with an Act 
        of the Congress, the State law shall be upheld unless the party 
        challenging the State or territorial law establishes by clear 
        and convincing evidence that the law has no effect on the 
        promotion of temperance, the establishment or maintenance of 
        orderly alcoholic beverage markets, the collection of alcoholic 
        beverage taxes, the structure of the state alcoholic beverage 
        distribution system, or the restriction of access to alcoholic 
        beverages by those under the legal drinking age.''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO WILSON ACT.

    The Act entitled ``An Act to limit the effect of the regulations of 
commerce between the several States and with foreign countries in 
certain cases'', approved August 8, 1890 (27 U.S.C. 121), commonly 
known as the ``Wilson Act'', is amended by striking ``to the same 
extent'' and all that follows through ``Territory,''.
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