Testimony Of Philip Bradley, KLBA, In Opposition To HB 2114
(Feb. 9, 2005) I am Philip Bradley representing the Kansas Licensed Beverage Association, a group of men and women, in the hospitality industry, who own and manage bars, clubs, restaurants, hotels, and catering services where beverage alcohol is served. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
We oppose HB-2114. We oppose Dram shop type laws and unnecessary liability laws. We practice responsible service and are already accountable for our own actions, but should not be answerable for the actions of others, outside our control.
We support efforts to reduce the accidents and casualties happening in our state. Millions of dollars and thousands of man hours are expended on our side, the "supply" side, of this equation to accomplish these goals. We work with the ABC to educate, train, and promote compliance and responsible practices. We have a training program certified by the ABC for Kansas. Our Techniques of Alcohol Management (TAM) program is nationally recognized as a leader in server training. We have conducted over 100 training session in the last 2 years. This represents training of over 2300 individuals. Since we started training in 1996, we have certified over 4500 servers. We believe that education is the single most useful tool in reducing alcohol-related incidents. We cooperate with KABR and KRHA to assure that training is available to all. We do all this with no cost to the state.
If we operate our business in a legal and responsible manner, we should not be held accountable for, nor could we control the actions of individuals after they leave. We train our servers to follow responsible practices and to comply with all Kansas statutes and regulations. We can, and do, determine if they appear intoxicated, incapacitated or disorderly and if so we refuse service. This is the current law. We do not fight the keys out of an individuals hands but I have called the Police on a person I believed was unsafe. We voluntarily work with taxi and transit companies to make sure that our patrons have alternatives. We are professional hospitality employees.
It is impossible for us to control whether our patrons consume alcohol in their vehicle after they leave, before they arrive or if they medicate themselves. It is impossible for us to determine if they have social or psychological problems that represent a threat to themselves or to others.
This legislation absolves individuals of personal responsibility. That is a dramatic departure from traditional Kansas values. It would require bartenders and waitresses -- including restaurants, country clubs, caterers, lobby bars, and temporary permit holders -- to be responsible for controlling not only the consumption of their patrons but also requires the licensees, bartenders, and waitresses to somehow control the actions of patrons after the patron leaves. This simply continues the national trend of "blaming someone else" for individual weaknesses and poor-judgment. The only absolute defense against being sued is to not serve alcohol. I hope that is not the intent of this bill.
Evidence from other states indicates that insurance premiums dramatically increase after dram shop liability laws are adopted. Most small establishments cannot pay the increase so they "go bare" and do not carry liability insurance. In some states because people have had to cancel their insurance, the legislature has THEN adopted legislation requiring liability insurance to ensure large recoveries. This has the effect of putting even more small businesses out of business just to ensure "deep pockets" in personal injury lawsuits.
We continue to work with Law enforcement and our communities to improve ourselves and our service.
As always we are available for questions. Thank you for your time.