4 a.m. Bar Closing Bill Advances To Upcoming Full Senate Vote With Support From Its Co-Author, LB-Area State Senator [and Dem Party Endorsed State Insurance Comm'r Candidate] Ricardo Lara

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(May 25. 2018, 3:50 p.m.) -- SB 905, a Sacramento bill that would let bars in six CA cities -- specifically including Long Beach -- serve alcohol until 4 a.m. if their city's City Council votes to approve the extended closing time -- has advanced with relatively minor amendments to the state Senate floor. The action was announced this morning (May 25) by the state Senate Appropriations Committee whose chair, state Senator Ricardo Lara (D, LB-Huntington Park) is a co-author of the bill.

Also voting to advance SB 905 was its author, state Senator Scott Wiener (D, SF), part of the Committee's five member Dem majority that sent SB 905 to the full Senate over the dissents of two Committee Repubs.

[Scroll down for further.]

Sen. Lara is a November 2018 candidate for statewide Insurance Commissioner (and has the endorsement of the CA Democratic Party.) If Lara wins, it would create a LB-area state Senate seat vacancy that some speculate LB Mayor Robert Garcia (re-elected in April and a Lara ally) or Councilman Al Austin (term limited in 2020) may run to fill.

In late 2017, without holding any public or Council discussion on the issue, Mayor Garcia informed Senator Wiener that the City of Long Beach would welcome inclusion in the bill (along with the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Los Angeles) to allow each city's respective City Council to allow a 4 a.m. closing times in their city.

SB 905 is supported by the LB Area Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown LB Alliance. To date, the Council's "State Legislation Committee" (members chosen by Garcia: Councilmembers Austin, Mungo, Gonzalez) has held no public discussion on the bill, nor has the full Council..

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."

[Comment: One may 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.]

Sponsor

As reported on April 16 by LBREPORT.com, testimony in the state Senate Appropriations Committee in support of SB 905 came from representatives for City of West Hollywood and UniteHere!/Teamsters.

Testimony in opposition came from CAPA (CA Alcoholic Policy Alliance) and Alcohol Justice (via the latter's Public Affairs Dir. Michael Scippa.) Mr. Scippa cited costs to CHP (as the bill requires report on regional impacts, also cited costs to MedCAL plus transportation/ambulance costs (covered by state of CA). Mr. Scippa continued: "The CDC has estimated that California actually has $35 billion in costs associated with alcohol related harm, $14.5 billion per the government's cost. Each standard drink is estimated to cost California $1.01. Any increase in bar or restaurant hours into the morning will mean an increase in drinking or no bar or restaurant will pay their employees to keep their venues open. With increased alcohol consumption there will be additional harms and costs. Please consider all of these costs when you make your determination as the bill moves out of suspense and vote "no" at that appropriate time."

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, on March 13, the state Senate's Government Operations Committee voted 8-2 (with 2 not voting) to advance SB 905 the Appropriations Committee accompanied by this Operations Committee legislative analysis.)

Sponsor

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

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. Last year, Senator Wiener authored SB 35 (which weakened local land use 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 multi-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.)

Sponsor

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