The Legislation Committee of the County Board of Legislators met today to discuss final revisions to a local law aimed at prohibiting and establishing fines for anyone organizing, hosting or knowingly allowing an event where minors are present and consume alcohol.
The “Social Host Law” appeared before the full Board at its June 16, 2008 meeting, where it was recommitted by Majority Leader Marty Rogowsky (D-IN-WF, Harrison). The item had been on the agenda for a public hearing as well as a vote by all seventeen members.
Although no vote was taken, legislators did agree to extend the proposed law’s public hearing. Legislator Tom Abinanti (D-IN-WF, Greenburgh) urged fellow lawmakers that the June 16th meeting time limited public comment to only those members who were able to attend the morning hearing, thus failing to provide a similar opportunity to the larger number of citizens available during evening hours.
Since returning to the Legislation Committee, members have debated over a series of revisions and modified definitions. Most notable has been the fine-tuning of the law’s awareness element that establishes the parameters under which an adult can be held accountable for “knowingly” permitting the consumption of alcohol by a minor.
Now that the bill has been, once again, signed out of committee, it moves on to the Tuesday, July 8th Board meeting, at which point the original public hearing on the former version of the law will continue as scheduled. An additional public hearing on the revised Social Host Law is slated for following meeting on August 11, 2008.
For more information on the specifics of the law, please contact Legislation Committee Coordinator, Steven Bass, at (914) 995-5482 or SteveB@westchesterlegislators.com