{"id":271818,"date":"2025-07-23T22:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/english-4-a-m-bar-bill-stopped-in-victory-for-public-health\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T22:30:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T02:30:02","slug":"proyecto-de-ley-acerca-del-horario-de-los-bares-hasta-las-4-a-m-es-detenido-en-una-victoria-para-la-salud-publica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/proyecto-de-ley-acerca-del-horario-de-los-bares-hasta-las-4-a-m-es-detenido-en-una-victoria-para-la-salud-publica\/","title":{"rendered":"4 A.M. Bar Bill Stopped in Victory for Public Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}\n.prntac{\nTEXT-ALIGN: CENTER\n}\n]]><\/style>\n<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p class=\"prntac\"><b>Alcohol Justice and the California Alcohol Policy Alliance Stand with Statewide Allies to Say: There&#8217;s Never a Good Time for <span class=\"xn-chron\">4 A.M.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-location\">SAN RAFAEL, Calif.<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-chron\">July 23, 2025<\/span><\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212; In a victory for public health and prevention, California Assembly Bill AB 342 (Haney, D- <span class=\"xn-location\">San Francisco<\/span>), the <span class=\"xn-chron\">4 A.M.<\/span> Bar Bill, has stalled in committee. The bill would have gone against best practices in alcohol harm prevention by allowing any jurisdiction in <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span> to extend weekend last call times to <span class=\"xn-chron\">4 A.M.<\/span> without any obligation to offset the risks. While it had passed through the State Assembly, it faced public objection at every step. In recognition of community voices and the overwhelming research showing its impacts and costs, Senate GO Committee Chair <span class=\"xn-person\">Steve Padilla<\/span> (D- <span class=\"xn-location\">San Diego<\/span>) announced the bill had been pulled from consideration during the committee&#8217;s <span class=\"xn-chron\">July 8<\/span> meeting. With the deadlines to move bills out of committee past, this year&#8217;s version of the bill seems to be dead.<\/p>\n<div id=\"prni_dvprnejpg8abaleft\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"width: 100%; text-align: left;\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"prnejpg8abaleft\" title=\"Alcohol Justice logo.\" src=\"https:\/\/mma.prnewswire.com\/media\/147418\/ALCOHOL_JUSTICE_LOGO_01.jpg\" alt=\"Alcohol Justice logo.\" align=\"middle\"\/><\/div>\n<p><i>&#8220;Every time we see a bill that endangers the public, we see coalitions form to stop it,&#8221; <\/i>said <span class=\"xn-person\">Terry Cunningham<\/span>, President of the Board of Alcohol Justice. <i>&#8220;This year, Alcohol Justice was proud to work hand in hand with recovery groups, faith groups, leading lights in public health and public safety, and the lawmakers who stand by the science.&#8221; <\/i><\/p>\n<p>AB 342 generated a storm of outrage among potentially affected residents. Since March of this year, 6,000 emails were sent to legislators via Alcohol Justice&#8217;s calls to action alone. The California Alcohol Policy Alliance, a coalition of over 50 public health and safety organizations from across the state, continued its staunch opposition as well. They were joined by local and state advocacy groups including the Health Officers Association of <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span>, the California Council on Alcohol Problems, and the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8220;For all of us who work to protect the public, there&#8217;s no choice but to oppose extended serving hours,&#8221;<\/i>\u00a0said <span class=\"xn-person\">Rob Lipton<\/span>, Research and Development Director for Alcohol Justice. <i>&#8220;The impact on crime, injury, crashes, and emergency services is well known. Helping a handful of private businesses never justifies causing so much pain to community members.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>According to the Community Guide, a CDC-compiled expert resource for prevention policy, last call times are essential to ensuring safe alcohol sales. The panel responsible for the guide noted that changes of 2 or more hours are clearly associated with increases in dangerous driving. Further research has tied late alcohol service to violence and crime, and a 2024 study out of <span class=\"xn-location\">Baltimore<\/span> found that restricting hours in a heavily impacted neighborhood resulted in a 9% decrease in violent crime, 48% drop in homicides, and 31% drop in assaults.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8220;We look into peoples&#8217; eyes to understand the harm,&#8221;<\/i>\u00a0said Lipton, <i>&#8220;but we look at the streets to see the costs. We see these costs in hospital closures, ambulances not coming, bus lines cancelled, more wrecked cars, and downtowns emptied out of any business that isn&#8217;t a bar.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Alcohol Justice, using methods developed by <span class=\"xn-location\">Emeryville&#8217;s<\/span> Alcohol Research Group, developed a financial impact estimate for these harms. If just 1 in 20 bars statewide adopted <span class=\"xn-chron\">4 a.m.<\/span> weekend closing times, the overall costs would exceed <span class=\"xn-money\">$2 billion<\/span> over 5 years. These would come at a time where many cities are reporting crippling budget deficits\u2014including <span class=\"xn-money\">$820 million<\/span> for <span class=\"xn-location\">San Francisco<\/span> and over <span class=\"xn-money\">$1 billion<\/span> for Los Angeles\u2014that are gutting the same public transit, healthcare, recovery, and community safety resources that would be strained by extended last calls.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8220;The costs are stark, and <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span> cannot bear them,&#8221;<\/i>\u00a0said Miryom Yisrael, Chief Operating Officer for Alcohol Justice. <i>&#8220;We will be stressing health and community support systems that are already near breaking. Worse, <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span> would be doing this at a time when the federal government is dismantling the prevention, treatment, and recovery structures we depend on.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time the <span class=\"xn-chron\">4 A.M.<\/span> bar bill has failed in the face of science and community outcry. At least 6 versions of the bill have been advanced in the past decade. <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span> uses a 2-year legislative calendar, meaning the bill can be reintroduced next spring. Proponents do not always wait even that long, using a legislative maneuver known as &#8220;gut and amend&#8221; to attach the same language to a new bill number. This flawed, frequently criticized loophole helps lawmakers who know they have unpopular policies rush their bills through the deliberative process in hopes of leaving communities in the dark. For now, however, Alcohol Justice thanks the advocates and lawmakers who chose to do right by the state and vote no on AB 342.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8220;We see this same bad idea year after year,&#8221;<\/i> said <span class=\"xn-person\">Terry Cunningham<\/span>, President of the Board of Alcohol Justice. <i>&#8220;But California will never lack smart, committed, and passionate residents. Once again, those people spoke up, and once again, power listened to the people.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&#8220;We are thankful to the Chair <span class=\"xn-person\">Steve Padilla<\/span> and Senate GO Committee members for prioritizing concerns to their constituency, public health, and public safety, and thus preserving the spirit of democracy,&#8221; <\/i>said <span class=\"xn-person\">Raul Verdugo<\/span>, Director of Advocacy for Alcohol Justice<i>. &#8220;Our congratulations are to the members of the California Alcohol Policy Alliance and the many community members who stood up for themselves, their families, and their neighborhoods, as this bill would have a significant impact on all our lives.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Alcohol Justice is a nonprofit based in <span class=\"xn-location\">San Rafael, California<\/span>, dedicated to preventing the harms caused by alcohol and drugs. For more information, please see <a href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=4473462-1&amp;h=1134423690&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alcoholjustice.org%2F&amp;a=www.alcoholjustice.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.alcoholjustice.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>CONTACT\u00a0<br \/><a href=\"mailto:media@alcoholjustice.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">media@alcoholjustice.org<\/a><br \/>(917) 426-6443<\/p>\n<p>Logo &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=4473462-1&amp;h=1108326025&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fmma.prnewswire.com%2Fmedia%2F147418%2FALCOHOL_JUSTICE_LOGO_01.jpg&amp;a=https%3A%2F%2Fmma.prnewswire.com%2Fmedia%2F147418%2FALCOHOL_JUSTICE_LOGO_01.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/mma.prnewswire.com\/media\/147418\/ALCOHOL_JUSTICE_LOGO_01.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>SOURCE  Alcohol Justice<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p class=\"prntac\"><b>Alcohol Justice and the California Alcohol Policy Alliance Stand with Statewide Allies to Say: There&#8217;s Never a Good Time for <span class=\"xn-chron\">4 A.M.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-location\">SAN RAFAEL, Calif.<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-chron\">July 23, 2025<\/span><\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212; In a victory for public health and prevention, California Assembly Bill AB 342 (Haney, D- <span class=\"xn-location\">San Francisco<\/span>), the <span class=\"xn-chron\">4&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":271819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-271818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interes-humano"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271818"}],"version-history":[{"count":"1","href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271828,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271818\/revisions\/271828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}