A Pennsylvania legislator is sponsoring a law that could result in ID tags being placed on beer kegs.

State Rep. Linda Bebko-Jones, D-Erie, is introducing legislation to make it more difficult for adults to purchase alcohol for underage people, said Mary Fiolek, spokeswoman for Bebko-Jones.

"The purpose is to make it more difficult for adults who buy for local, underage kids because there will be a record," Fiolek said.

She said the theory is that adults would be less likely to provide alcohol to minors if they know their information is being recorded.

The information on the keg tags would be kept inside the distributorship.

She added the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) would set the length of time distributors can keep a person's information.

"It would not be for a whole long time," Fiolek said.

However, Molly McGowan, PLCB spokeswoman, said the PLCB has not yet taken a position on the keg tags.

Jon Hickey, of W.R. Hickey Beer Distributor's Inc., said distributors are already required by law to fill out a full invoice with a customer's name and address with every sale of a keg or beer ball.

But that information cannot be used to trace a customer to a specific keg and does not correspond to any identifying markers on the containers, he added.

Jay Goldstein, president of the Pennsylvania Beer Wholesalers Association, said distributors would have to start taking action if kegs tags are approved.

"You stop people at the door, and tell them you need a birth certificate, passport, et cetera, because we have to fill out the tags," he said. "And you tell them, 'You're going to be prosecuted if your kid gets into the fridge.' "

John Hardy, owner of Happy Valley Refreshment, 420 Boal Ave., Boalsburg, said current ways of enforcing legal drinking age are sufficient.

"Carding of minors and all the information we take already is adequate," Hardy said. "Society has tried to curb drinking and underage drinking for years and I don't know how much more legislation they can have."

Goldstein said he is "personally offended" by the way he feels the proposed law attacks him and his organization.

"I don't think it has anything at all to do with saving kids' lives," Goldstein said. "Claims that this reduces underage drinking are ridiculous."

Andrew Winneberger (senior-marketing) also said he believes keg tags probably would not affect underage drinking.

"It's a limited amount of people who are out buying kegs for kids and then leaving them," Winneberger said. "I don't think this is going to help at all."

Jason Rohrer (senior-actuarial science) said underage drinkers would always find a way to obtain alcohol.

"Underage people are very clever people when it comes to drinking," he said.

Goldstein said the first thing underage drinkers would do with keg tags is take them off as soon as they got the keg.

"I don't know too many people who break into a house and leave their name and number on the kitchen table," he said. "The kids know they are breaking the law, they aren't going to leave it on there."

Goldstein said he is concerned the keg tags would hurt keg sales. Beer sales are already declining in Pennsylvania. They have decreased 7.8 percent in the first eight months of 2003, Goldstein said, and that is the largest single percentage loss in any single year.

"Beer consumption is going through the basement in Pennsylvania, and the liquor industry is doing great," Goldstein said. "The drinking public is moving away from beer into wine and liquor. They want to regulate barrels and are completely silent on liquor, and we find it fascinating."

State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, said this bill has been introduced several times but has not gotten very far due to a lack of co-sponsors. Benninghoff is also unsure of the effectiveness the keg tags would have if the law was passed.

"If people are going to drink, they're going to drink, whether they steal it out of mom and dad's liquor cabinet or have someone of age buy it for them," Benninghoff said.

He said he is unsure what Bebko-Jones would like to accomplish with the legislation.

"I think it's popular to do these types of things and I'm sure her motives are good," Benninghoff said.

Collegian Staff Writer Brent Burkey contributed to this report.