An Alabama lawmaker said he would remove it has dozens of government contracts After the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board approved a regulatory change sought by businesses that sell alcohol.

ABC’s Board of Directors today approved a rule requested by the Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association that would make it easier for employees to receive responsible vendor training.

Mindy Hanan, President and CEO of the Restaurant and Hospitality Association, said the new rule will allow employees to receive training on-demand rather than in person or through a scheduled online program such as a Zoom class.

“Restaurant servers work different hours,” Hanan said. “They don’t usually work 8-5. They work between 5-10. They work nights, weekends and different hours.

“So sending someone to a class or scheduling an online lesson over Zoom wasn’t something that worked well for restaurants or hotels. We needed something where when they were hired, they could sit down at the computer the next day and get a lesson and get the training as quickly as possible.”

Hanan wrote the petition proposing the rule change. Hanan said the ABC Board aligned its regulations with a bill passed by the Legislature last year.

Last week, Republican Sen. Chris Elliott of Baldwin County, who sponsored that bill, said the ABC Board of Governors had been slow to update its rules to reflect the law. Elliott temporarily delayed 60 government agency contracts last week at a total cost of about $80 million in an effort to put pressure on the agency.

Elliott said the rule adopted today addresses his concerns.

“I am very grateful that the ABC Board of Directors was able to investigate this matter and achieve this,” Elliott said. “I think this is a good thing for responsible liquor sales in Alabama. It’s a good thing that small businesses have easy, easy access to responsible retailer training.”

Elliott had authority to enforce contracts as a member of the Legislature’s contract review committee. Any member can keep contracts for up to 45 days but cannot block or terminate them permanently.

The new ABC Board rule will not go into effect immediately but will be subject to public comment. But Hanan and Elliott said today’s approval by the ABC Board of Directors is an important step.

ABC’s Board of Directors had previously postponed action on the rule and asked its staff to investigate further. At today’s meeting, Board General Counsel David Peacock reported on regulations and other information in other states. The board later adopted the rule change.

ABC Board Director Curtis Stewart said the board generally accepted the Restaurant and Hospitality Association’s recommendation. But he said the rule change is not an urgent matter because the board has allowed online responsible seller training since the end of the COVID pandemic.

“We’ve been looking at how we can change what we do since then, but it wasn’t so much that we didn’t allow online education,” Stewart said. “And so, when this legislation was passed, there was no urgency to jump in there and do something.”

The old rule said responsible dealer training must include “face-to-face” training. Peacock said the ABC Board is considering Zoom or Team classes as “face-to-face.”

Certification as a responsible seller is optional for businesses. It provides benefits for those who participate.

Hanan said this means employees ages 18 to 20 can serve alcohol, which could help address labor shortages. Responsible retailer certification could reduce costs for liquor liability insurance rates, he said.

The certificate can also mitigate penalties if the seller commits a violation, such as selling to a minor.

“It will be very beneficial to our members and the public,” Hanan said. “Because our goal is to ensure that as many people as possible are educated about the responsible service and sale of alcohol.

“And it doesn’t just affect us. It affects grocery stores. And markets. And anyone who serves alcohol.

Stewart said the ABC Board’s goal is to make compliance as easy as possible.

“We want it to be as widespread as possible,” Stewart said. “Because we want all licensees who sell products to the public to train their employees, train their employees, and make sure their training stays up to date.”