House Bill No. 336

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act allowing the department of transportation to negotiate agreements with soft drink bottlers to install vending machines at established rest areas; and providing for the disposition of proceeds."



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



NEW SECTION. Section 1.  Bottler -- definition. As used in [section 2] and this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Bottler" means a person who imports soft drinks or who manufactures soft drinks by mixing, blending, or diluting syrup or concentrate with carbonated water or other liquids into soft drinks for sale or distribution for human consumption in Montana.

(2) "Soft drink" means a nonalcoholic beverage that is imported or manufactured by a bottler as provided in subsection (1) and that is sold or distributed for human consumption in Montana.



NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Vending machines at rest areas -- agreement -- distribution of proceeds. (1) The department may enter into agreements with bottlers for the purposes of placing vending machines at established rest areas.

(2) The agreements must provide:

(a) that the bottler shall pay all costs associated with the purchase and installation of the vending machines;

(b) that the bottler is responsible for maintenance, inventory, payment for electricity to operate the machines, collection of money in the machines, and replacement of the machines if they are damaged or destroyed by vandalism or other causes; and

(c) an accounting procedure and a determination of the percentage of proceeds that will be retained by the bottler. Proceeds that are not retained by the bottler must be divided equally among the state of Montana and organizations, such as the Montana olympic committee, the big sky state games, or other related organizations, to be determined in the agreement.

(3) The department shall:

(a) collect from the bottler the percentage of the vending machine proceeds agreed to be remitted to the state as provided in subsection (2)(c);

(b) deduct any costs associated with negotiating and executing the agreements with the bottlers; and

(c) submit the remaining funds to the state treasurer for deposit in the state general fund.



NEW SECTION. Section 3.  Codification instruction. [Sections 1 and 2] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 60, chapter 2, part 2, and the provisions of Title 60, chapter 2, part 2, apply to [sections 1 and 2].

-END-