4 A.M. Last Call Bill Stalls, Opponents Rallying

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One by one, Californians are raising their voices to oppose SB 384, Scott Wiener’s bill to strip away community last-call protections. The bill, which distorts the concept of “local control” over bar closing times to appeal to big-bucks nightlife and hospitality interests, was slowly progressing through the legislature, but may have hit a roadblock. In a powerful op-ed in the Sacramento Bee, Patrick R. Krill, an attorney, advocate, and licensed drug and alcohol counselor, makes the argument that it should stay there.

Mr. Krill explains that alcohol harm costs California $35 billion per year, more than any other state, even while California refuses to raise alcohol excise taxes. In addition, he points out that “the proposed legislation also seems to absurdly suggest that local communities exist in hermetically-sealed isolation from one another, and that the late-night activities in one will not have a direct effect on others. In the state with the most licensed drivers in the country, and many sprawling urban areas that contain numerous contiguous ‘communities,’ any notion that closing times for bars should be a local matter amounts to nothing more than distractive window dressing on an otherwise dubious proposal.”

Currently, the bill rests in the suspense file, after the Senate GO found that it would cost an additional $1-$2 million yearly to ABC alone over the first two years—never mind the ongoing financial hit individual communities would take in enforcement and stress to the emergency medical systems. However, the suspense file may not be enough.

“It’s good to see this bill not moving forward,” said Michael Scippa, public affairs director at Alcohol Justice, “but it needs to be stopped, turned back, and torn apart. It was an obviously bad idea from the get-go.” Alcohol Justice urges concerned California citizens to bury SB 384 and protect common-sense alcohol regulation.

TAKE ACTION to tell your CA Assembly member to make sure Sen. Wiener's bill gets bounced.

READ MORE about SB 384 backers’ soulless exploitation of the Ghost Ship victims.