On March 13, the state Senate's Government Operations Committee voted 8-2 (with 2 not voting) to advance SB 905 by state Senator Scott Wiener (D, San Francisco) to the state Senate Appropriations Committee. The March 13 Committee vote advanced SB 905 with three minor Committee-staff suggested amendments described in the Committee legislative analysis here.)

Among those voting "yes" was LB-area state Senator Ricardo Lara (D, LB-Huntington Park) who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee where SB 905 is now headed and where SB 905's author Sen. Wiener is a member. [Senator Lara is a November 2018 candidate for Insurance Commissioner and if he wins, it will create a LB-area state Senate seat vacancy that some speculate LB Mayor Robert Garcia (a Lara ally) or Councilman Al Austin (term limited in 2020) may run to fill.]

SB 905 is supported by the LB Area Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown LB Alliance, and Mayor Garcia, the latter urging LB's inclusion in the bill last year without public discussion or LB City Council approval. In late 2017, Mayor Garcia informed Senator Wiener that Long Beach would welcome inclusion in the bill (with San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Los Angeles) allowing their respective City Councils to allow a 4 a.m. closing times in their cities. In a November 2017 release, Mayor Garcia stated: "This bill clearly would not work citywide for us, it does give the city and local law enforcement the flexibility to allow special events in the Downtown Entertainment District. This option has been supported by the Downtown Long Beach Business Alliance, which manages our business improvement district." [One can speculate about whether bars in Belmont Shore, Bixby Knolls, NLB and ELB's Airport area would press the Council to allow 4 a.m. closing times for their areas as well.]

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SB 905's supporters include various "hospitality interests" and chambers of comemrce; its opponents include anti-drunk-driving groups and drug and alcohol treatment advocacy groups. LBREPORT.com provides a list of supporters/opponents below.

To view the March 13 Committee hearing on-demand via the California Channel; scroll to 20:38 into the hearing where SB 905 begins.

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sen. Wiener calls his bill a "local control" measure that eliminates statewide "one size fits all" 2 a.m. closings statewide and enables "greater nightlife" in cities that want it. Senator Wiener is the same state Senator who authored last year's SB 35 (which weakened local decisionmaking by "streamlining" local approval of certain developer-sought housing projects) and is now advancing SB 827 (that would override local zoning and require Sacramento-dictated "density bonuses" enabling roughly 4 to 8 story buildings within Sacramento-decided distances of public transit/bus stops. On March 13, 2018, the LB City Council voted to oppose SB 827 (after failing in 2017 to oppose SB 35.)

The state Senate Government Operations Committee legislative analysis listed supporters/opponents as follows:

SUPPORT:

213 Hospitality
California Hotel & Lodging Association
California Music & Culture Association
California Restaurant Association
California Small Business Association
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
California Travel Association
Central City Association
City of Oakland
City of West Hollywood
Darrell Steinberg, Mayor of Sacramento
Greater Los Angeles Hospitality Association
Hotel Council of San Francisco
Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Lyft
Mark E. Farrell, Mayor of San Francisco
Robert Garcia, Mayor of Long Beach
San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Travel Association
San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance
State Coalition of Probation Organization
UBER
UNITE HERE, AFL-CIO
Valley Industry and Commerce Association
West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

OPPOSITION:

Alcohol Justice
Alcohol Policy Panel of San Diego County
Alcohol & Drug Abuse Prevention Team
Asian American Drug Abuse Program, Inc.
Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association
California Alcohol Policy Alliance
California Council on Alcohol Problems
Cambodian Association of America
Center for Open Recovery
Coalition for Drug Free Escondido
SB 905 (Wiener) Page 10 of 11
Community Action Service Advocacy
East Palo Alto Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition
FASD Network of Southern California
Golden Gateway Tenants Association
Health Officers Association of California
Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance
Mountain Communities Coalition Against Substance Abuse
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence- Orange County
North Coastal Prevention Coalition
One East Palo Alto
Partnership for A Positive Pomona
Prevention Alcohol Related Trauma in Salinas
Pueblo Y Salud, Inc.
Reach Out Against Drugs
San Marcos Prevention Coalition
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
South Orange County Coalition
Tarzana Treatment Center, Inc.
The Walls Las Memorias Project
United Coalition East Prevention Project
Wellness & Prevention Coalition
Westside Impact Project
West County Alcohol Marijuana and Prescription Drug Coalition
Several individuals

Sponsor

Mayor Garcia could have, but didn't, send the issue to the Council's "State Legislation Committee" (Austin, Mungo, Gonzalez) or to the full City Council, whose members would have to allow public testimony before voting on whether to support or oppose the bill.

Sponsor

Sponsor