Long Beach was included among the nine CA cities in the bill as a result Mayor Garcia (who has no policy-setting authority) telling the bill's author last year that Long Beach wanted to be included.

Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell (D, LB) voted "no" on the measure but didn't speak; Assembly passage was a foregone conclusion with Speaker Anthony Rendon (D, NLB-Paramount) announcing his support last week. SB 905 now heads back to the state Senate for a final vote concurring in Assembly amendments, and then to the Governor. If he signs it, it will become law and a LB City Council majority will decide whether to allow alcohol service until 4 a.m. and if so, in what part(s) of Long Beach or for what "special events."

Assemblymembers speaking in support stressed "local control"; No Assemblymember spoke in opposition.

The Assembly vote tally (from the Assembly webcast) is displayed below.

[UPDATE Aug. 30] And here's the final vote tally (51-22-7) which includes Assemblymembers who voted "Aye" or "No" after it was clear the bill had passed):

Ayes: Aguiar-Curry, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Caballero, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Chávez, Chen, Chiu, Chu, Cunningham, Daly, Eggman, Fong, Friedman, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gray, Grayson, Harper, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Low, Mathis, Mayes, Medina, Mullin, Obernolte, Quirk, Reyes, Rivas, Rubio, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Voepel, Weber, Wood, Rendon
Noes: Acosta, Arambula, Baker, Cervantes, Choi, Cooley, Dahle, Frazier, Gallagher, Gonzalez Fletcher, Irwin, Lackey, Levine, Maienschein, McCarty, Melendez, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk-Silva, Salas, Waldron
No Votes Recorded: Travis Allen, Cooper, Flora, Gabriel, Limón, Patterson, Rodriguez

[Scroll down for further.]

State Senator Ricardo Lara (D, LB-Huntington Park), the CA Dem Party's endorsed candidate for Insurance Commissioner in November, was an early co-author of SB 905. In May 2018, the state Senate approved SB 905 on a 27-9-3 vote with Senator Lara voting "yes" and state Senator Janet Nguyen (R, SE LB-west OC) voting "no."

[UPDATE] And the final Senate vote on concurrence was 28-8-4 as follows:

Ayes: Allen, Anderson, Atkins, Beall, Cannella, De León, Delgado, Dodd, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Skinner, Stone, Wieckowski, Wiener
Noes: Bates, Chang, Fuller, Gaines, Nguyen, Nielsen, Vidak, Wilk
No Votes Recorded: Berryhill, Bradford, Jackson, Stern

Sponsor

Sponsor

The LB-impacting bill advanced through the legislative process without discussion by LB's policy-setting City Council including its "State Legislation Committee" chaired by Councilman Al Austin [who is collecting campaign contributions to pursue a 2020 state Senate seat] and Councilmembers Lena Gonzalez and Stacy Mungo.] (In an August 21 reshuffling of Committee members, Garcia replaced Mungo on the State Legislation Committee with Councilman Rex Richardson.)

Sponsor

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, Mayor Garcia ensured LB's inclusion in SB 905 by telling its author, state Senator Scott Wiener (D, SF) that LB favors it. A November 2017 press release from Sen. Wiener quoted Mayor Garcia as saying: "This bill clearly would not work citywide for us [but] 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."

Ultimately, the decision on whether to allow alcohol service to 4 a.m. won't be made by the Mayor; a Council majority will decide whether or not to allow 4 a.m. bar closings in Long Beach and if so in what areas and for what "special events."

Sponsor

Sponsor

SB 905's local supporters included the Downtown Long Beach Alliance and the LB Area Chamber of Commerce.

Alcohol Justice (a non-profit industry watchdog group) was among SB 905's most consistent opponents, along with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD California).

In late-May/early June Councilwoman Suzie Price stated her opposition to SB 905 in newsletter communications with her constituents, writing in part:

"I oppose allowing expanded hours of alcohol sales in Long Beach. Providing more time and access to alcohol presents increased concerns and opportunities for impaired driving, and creates an increased likelihood that people leaving bars are on the road in the early morning hours the same time as commuters beginning their day. I have seen the terrible and tragic affects of too many DUI cases, and would be very concerned with the potential dangers to our many Long Beach communities."

However neither Councilwoman Price nor any other LB Councilmember agendized SB 905 for Council discussion on whether to support or oppose the bill which would have put them on a collision course with Garcia and LB's downtown interests.

Councilman O'Donnell also authored an op-ed in the Gazettes stating his opposition.

Statewide listed supporters include: [via State Senate Committee on Governmental Organization March 2018 legislative analysis/most complete supporter list]:

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

Listed opponents include (Assembly Governmental Organization Committee legislative analysis list/June 2018):

Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Alcohol & Drug Abuse Prevention Team San Ramon Valley
Alcohol Justice
Asian American Drug Abuse Program
Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association
California Alcohol Policy Alliance
California Council on Alcohol Problems
California Youth Council
Californians for Drug Free Youth
Center for Human Development
Center for Open Recovery
Cesar E. Chavez Commemorative Committee of the San Fernando Valley
Coalition to Prevent Alcohol Related Harms LA Metro
Coastal Communities Drug-Free Coalition
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
County Behavioral Health Directors Association
Day One
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Network of Southern California
Friday Night Live Program
Health Officers Association of California
Institute for Public Strategies
Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Lutheran Office of Public Policy - California
Mission Neighborhood Centers, Inc.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Mountain Communities Coalition Against Substance Abuse
Mountain Communities Family Resource Center
National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse, Inc.
National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence - Orange County
Pacoima Urban Village
Project Safer
Pueblo Y Salud, Inc.
San Diegans for Safe Communities
San Marcos Prevention Coalition
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
South Orange County Coalition
Sun Street Centers
Tarzana Treatment Centers
Teen Esteem
The Wall-Las Memorias Project
Wellness & Prevention Center
West County Alcohol Marijuana & Prescription Drug Coalition
West Hollywood Project
Westside Impact Project
Youth Leadership Institute

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