Published
Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 00:07
- California legislators signed off on Senate Bill 905, which will now head to Governor Jerry Brown for final approval.
California lawmakers just passed Senate Bill 905, which could allow bars in nine California cities to serve alcohol until 4 AM instead of 2 AM.
The bill, brought by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would allow bars and clubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Palm Springs, Sacramento, Coachella and Cathedral City to extend last call by two hours, pending approval from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, under a pilot program starting in 2021. It now goes to the desk of California Governor Jerry Brown for approval, the Los Angeles Times reports.
After the vote, Wiener tweeted: "We will make the case to the Governor that cities should be able to decide for themselves what kind of nightlife makes sense."
The new bill follows a similar effort called Let Our Communities Adjust Late Night (or the LOCAL Act), also spearheaded by Wiener, which passed through the Senate but stalled in the California State Assembly last year.
Though a small number of clubs in LA and San Francisco can stay open past 2—until 4 or 6 AM—an earlier alcohol curfew compared to cities like Chicago or New York makes profit margins for DJ-oriented club nights thinner, which can sometimes drive promoters into underground spaces.
Check out our Real Scenes documentary on the LA music and nightlife community.