Bill would require beer keg registration for Texans

Modern Brewery Age, Jan 24, 2005

AP--Texans purchasing beer kegs would be required to register with the state, swearing they are 21 years old and promising not to serve minors, under a new bill filed this week in the Texas House.

Retailers on Wednesday criticized the bill, contending the burden of the proposed registration program and its bookkeeping would fall on them.

However, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which would administer the registration, supports the measure, said Roy Hale, program specialist for the commission's enforcement division.

Rep. Rob Eissler filed the bill, one of three designed to reduce underage drinking. Eissler, R-The Woodlands, supported the legislation at the urging of a constituent. Susan Wagener's son died of acute alcohol poisoning in 1999 on the campus of Texas A&M University.

A proposed law by Eissler, aimed at curbing birthday binge drinking that has led to deaths like those of Michael Wagener, would punish vendors who sell alcohol to people during the early morning hours of their 21st birthdays.

A third measure would limit the amount of alcohol served in any one drink by licensed retailers to a half-ounce of pure alcohol or the equivalent. According to results of a police investigation into Wagener's death, he had been served eight or nine 4-ounce shots of liquor in 30 to 45 minutes, roughly the amount of a one-liter bottle of liquor.

"The point of the legislation is directed at underage drinking," said Eissler.

Retailers contend the proposed registration requirements are largely redundant because some businesses already register kegs voluntarily.

Hale, however, said 23 other states and the District of Columbia require buyers of kegs to register.

An estimated 60,000 or more kegs of beer sold annually in the state might come under the registration proposal, according to Texans Standing Tall, an Austin nonprofit dedicated to preventing underage alcohol use. Underage drinking costs Texas an estimated $5 billion a year in loss of life, accidents and treatment of various alcohol related problems, said Steve Ross, a spokesman for the group.