Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance (L.A. DAPA), California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA), and Alcohol Justice are expressing gratitude on Aug. 5 to the Los Angeles City Council for their 12-2 veto-proof vote on Resolution #22-0002-S106 introduced by Los Angeles City Council Member Paul Koretz. The Resolution strongly opposes California SB 930, San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener’s 4th attempt since 2013 to disrupt the protections of California’s statewide uniform last call.
“This is our 5th whack at this deadly excuse for a so-called business growth bill that does a lot more to threaten the innocent public than allow a few bars and restaurants to increase their nightly revenue,” stated Council Member Koretz, author of the successful resolution.
SB 930 would allow closing times for on-sale retailers to be extended from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. as part of a dangerous “pilot program.” The experiment would take place in 6 cities: San Francisco, Oakland, West Hollywood, Cathedral City, Coachella, and Palm Springs. Originally, Fresno was the 7th city in the pilot program but requested to be removed from the bill last week due to intense opposition among Fresno city leaders who will be voting on their own opposition resolution next week.
In Los Angeles, the powerful Los Angeles County Democratic Party (LACDP) came out against SB 930 in a letter made public before a City Hall opposition rally last week.
“For the life of me, with as many priorities as the state of California has right now, it’s baffling that a state senator would continue to push a bill for those people who say I can’t drink enough by 2 a.m., I need options for another two hours,” said City Council Member Paul Krekorian. “…It’s outrageous, we have to defeat this bill.”
One of the main points of opposition to SB 930 is that there is no “local control” when it comes to alcohol because the danger, harms and costs will not stay in West Hollywood where the drinking occurs. If this bill becomes law, Los Angeles will be surrounded by late night drinkers — drivers traveling drunk back through other districts in the early morning commute hours.
“This is a dangerous, misguided bill,” stated City Council Member Mitch O’Farrell. “Look at the data Sacramento! Stop trying to impose your dangerous ideologies across the state. Heed the call of local municipalities who work day-in and day-out to protect their constituents.”
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), California currently suffers more annual alcohol-related harm than any other state: 11,000 alcohol-related deaths, $35 billion in total costs, $18.5 billion in state costs. The CDC also identifies maintaining existing last call times as one of the 10 key policies for reducing the harms from reckless drinking and from alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths.
SB 930:
- Is a poorly conceived and inadequately funded pilot project
- Strips away uniform protections of statewide 2 a.m. last call
- Costs the state at least $3-4 million per year to administer, mitigate the harm, and clean the blood off the highway; costs cities and towns in “Splash Zones” millions more
- Disregards 40 years of peer-reviewed, public health research on the dangers of extending last call
Ignores the existing annual catastrophe of alcohol-related harm in California - Uses the false narrative of COVID economic recovery to subsidize and reward late-night alcohol-sellers at government and tax-payer expense
“On behalf of L.A. DAPA, CAPA, Alcohol Justice, The Wall Las Memorias Project, and LGBTQ+ communities, who are often named by SB 930’s authors as beneficiaries of this proposed alcohol policy change, I want to express our deep appreciation to Councilmember Koretz and the Los Angeles City Council for passing this powerful statement of opposition,” said Richard Zaldivar, Executive Director, The Wall Las Memorias Project, and Alcohol Justice Board Chair. “Clearly they understand that extending hours of on-site alcohol sales into the wee hours of the morning will benefit a few bar, restaurant and nightclub owners, as well as alcohol producers and distributors, while increasing alcohol-related harms and costs at great public expense and that is not something they are willing to do.”
Alcohol Justice encourages the public to TAKE ACTION to STOP SB 930: Text JUSTICE to 313131 or click here.
