Student Senate voted to protest a Wisconsin Senate Bill that could spell harsher punishments for underage drinkers at its meeting Monday.
“I see senate bill 46 as a way to incentivize bars to let underage drinkers in and make a quick buck,” Senator Samuel Fish said.
Senate unanimously passed a resolution opposing Wisconsin Senate Bill 46 or the “Brown Jug Bill,” which could allow businesses to sue underage drinkers for up to $1,000 plus court costs.
Under current law, underage drinkers can be fined approximately $175 for first-offense drinking violations and may be required to take an alcohol education course.
Senator Jake Wrasse said he introduced the resolution after having a conversation with Peggy O’Halloran, director of Center for Alcohol Studies and Education.
Student Body President Bryan Larson said if counseling professionals don’t like the bill, Senate shouldn’t support it either.
“I think the most efficient way to address the issue of underage drinking is to put the emphasis on the business,” Larson said. “I think how it currently operates, works. I think it’s putting an inordinate burden on the underage person.”
Language in Senate’s bill doesn’t explicitly oppose underage drinking along with the Brown Jug Bill.
But Wrasse said lines in the resolution like “punitive measures disproportionately fine underage drinkers” imply Senate isn’t in favor of underage people drinking.
“This isn’t saying that we condone underage drinking; this isn’t saying that businesses should bear the full brunt of the problem,” Wrasse said. “This is saying we think the current system does a better job than the supposed upgrade is going to do.”
Senate Bill 46 is modeled off an Alaska law by the same name. The Brown Jug, an Alaskan bar, proposed underage drinkers pay $1,000 directly to charities, not alcohol vendors.
Senate’s resolution states the law could “position alcohol-selling establishments to benefit from underage drinking.”
But Brandon Scholz, president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association, said current laws aren’t doing enough to curb underage drinking.
“The burden falls on businesses to prevent underage drinking,” Scholz said. “So if someone glues hair on their face and gets away with it, it’s our liquor license to lose. The employee who sold it could lose their job, all for the glory of buying a six pack.”
State law doesn’t just levy fines on businesses and employees caught selling booze. On first offense, business owners or employees could have liquor licences suspended for up to three days and could face 30 days in jail.
Sholz said buying booze is ultimately a selfish decision.
Underage people aren’t thinking about consequences. If there’s a harsher punishment for drinking underage, people will be less likely to try to buy alcohol under 21, he said.