Alcohol Justice Reports: Los Angeles City Council Says NO to 4 a.m. Bar Bill

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August 28, 2019

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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Alcohol Justice, California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) and Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance (L.A.DAPA) expressed gratitude today to the Los Angeles City Council for passing a resolution strongly opposing Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 58 – the 4 a.m. bar bill. Councilmember Paul Koretz’s resolution succeeded in changing the narrative from increasing nightlife profits to protecting public health and safety.

Councilmember Koretz introduced the resolution opposing Wiener’s SB 58 on March 5, 2019. Today the Council voted 10 to 2 to formally oppose the bill which has been supported by Mayor Garcetti and Assemblymember Santiago who have consistently ignored the statewide public health and safety threats the bill would create by allowing a patchwork quilt of cities to extend alcohol sales to 4 a.m.

“The Los Angeles City Council’s vote to support my resolution OPPOSING SB 58 ‘the 4 am bar bill’ sends a clear message to the Sacramento legislature that here in Los Angeles we put the lives and public safety of our residents before the profit of a few bar and club owners,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz of the Fifth District.

Expected social costs generated annually in the City of Los Angeles alone would be $88–$354.5 million; while the additional revenue would only be $36.5–$146.1 million. The five-year trial period net social cost of harm in Los Angeles would range from $266.5 million to $1 billion.

In Sacramento, the fate of the bill currently rests with the Assembly Appropriations Committee, chaired by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, which will make a determination on August 30, 2019. If passed and signed into law by Governor Newsom, SB 58 would expose over 76% of California’s population to increased early morning commute hour alcohol-related harm.

FACTS

SB 58 would allow closing times for on-sale retailers to be extended from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. as part of a poorly conceived and inadequately funded “pilot program” conducted by the ABC
SB 58 would allow ten cities to extend last call: San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Cathedral City, Coachella, Palm Springs and Fresno.
SB 58 strips away statewide uniform protections of 2 a.m. last call
SB 58 costs the state at least $3-4 million per year to administer and mitigate the harm
SB 58 costs cities and towns in “Splash Zones” millions more
SB 58 disregards 40 years of peer-reviewed, public health research on the dangers of extending last call
SB 58 ignores $35 billion in annual alcohol-related harm in California
SB 58 subsidizes and rewards nightlife alcohol-sellers at tax-payer expense
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), California already suffers more annual alcohol-related harm than any other state: over 10,500 alcohol-related deaths, $35 billion in total costs, $14.5 billion in state costs.