Los Angeles Says NO 4 a.m. Last Call

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L.A. City Councilmember Paul Koretz Hosts SB 58 Opposition Press Event

Residents of Los Angeles Will Not Be Lab Rats for Senator Wiener's Haphazard 4 a.m. Bar Bill Experiment

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May 02, 2019, 07:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, May 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA), Alcohol Justice, and Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz have come together again to host a press event to oppose another 4 a.m. bar bill. SB 58 is State Senator Scott Wiener's 3^rd attempt in three years to disrupt the state's uniform mandatory closing time for alcohol sales. In response, Councilmember Koretz introduced a resolution (Council File: 19-002-S39) opposing SB 58 on March 5, 2019. Friday's press event participants will report on the city and statewide public health and safety threats the bill would create by allowing a patchwork quilt of cities – including Los Angeles - to extend alcohol sales to 4 a.m. If passed and signed into law by Governor Newsom, SB 58 would launch a dangerous ten-city, five-year experiment that could expose over 76% of California's population to increased alcohol-related harm. The bill faces a Senate Appropriations Committee determination by May 16, 2019.

What: Press Event/Opposition Rally/Call to Action

When: Friday, May 3, 2019, 9:00 a.m.

Where: Los Angeles City Hall, 200 N Spring St. Los Angeles CA, 90012 (First Street steps)

Who:

Paul Koretz, Los Angeles City Council District 5
Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Los Angeles City Council District 8
Sonny Skyhawk, Alcohol Justice
Melissa Estelle, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
Miriam Castro, Promotora - Mujeres Transformando La Comunidad
Richard Zaldivar, The Wall Las Memorias Project
Brenda Villanueva, Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance (L.A.DAPA)
Gennesis Lopez, Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Related Harms in LA Metro (CoPalm)
Veronica De Lara, California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA)

Why:

Having failed to pass two previous 4 a.m. bar bills (SB 384 in 2017, SB 905 in 2018), State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) authored SB 58, a poorly conceived and inadequately funded ABC "pilot project" to extend last call to 4 a.m. in ten cities.
SB 58 disregards 40 years of peer-reviewed, public health research on the dangers of extending last call.
SB 58 will strip away uniform protections of the existing 2 a.m. last call, and spread additional alcohol overconsumption, loss of life, injury, and nuisance across the state.
According to California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), fatal DUI is a chronic, worsening problem for California.
The U.S. Community Preventive Services Task Force found that every 2-hour increase in last-call times results in greater vehicle crash injuries and E.R. admissions.
There is no such thing as "local control" in alcohol policy. The harm from one city's decision to change last-call times "splashes" over every surrounding community.
SB 58 will cost the state at least $3-4 million per year to administer, mitigate the harm, and clean the blood off the highway; and cost cities and towns in "Splash Zones" millions more.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), California already suffers over 10,500 alcohol-related deaths annually, $35 billion in total costs, and $14.5 billion in state costs.
SB 58 subsidizes and rewards late-night alcohol-sellers at tax-payer expense.