The Intuit Dome, the new $2 billion home of the Los Angeles Clippers which opened in August, is currently the only alcohol serving venue in the state able to stay open past 2 a.m after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill last year allowing the exemption.
AB 342 would enable cities to extend last call hours for business with alcohol licenses within the designated hospitality zone to operate until 4 a.m on Fridays, Saturdays, and state holidays.
“We have to, as a state, help our cities come back fully and recover,” Assemblymember Matt Haney (D - San Francisco) said during a press conference on Monday. “We know that when people come to our cities…they are not only looking for thriving daytime opportunities, but night time opportunities as well.”
Businesses interested in applying would have to pay a $2,500 fee for an “annual additional hours” license. Fees would be deposited into the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund.
Haney, who authored the bill, said the legislation would allow city leaders to “re-imagine what their downtowns could offer.”
The bill doesn’t require cities to adopt the extended hour policies, but gives them flexibility when implementing them.
“We’re not talking about making every city in California stay open until 4:00 a.m” Haney said. “We’re talking about creating spaces in our downtowns where it makes sense, where we know it will benefit the neighborhood.”
City leaders across the state have been making efforts to revitalize their city centers following a drop in foot traffic after the COVID 19 pandemic.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty supported Gov. Gavin Newsom’s move to roll back work-from-home policies for state workers in March.
“We've noted in the last several years that fewer people downtown has had an impact with commerce and our local businesses in our core of Sacramento,” McCarty said.
Haney pointed to other declines in commerce across the state, particularly in the Bay Area which saw hotel revenue drop by 45% and restaurant revenue down 20% from pre-pandemic levels.
This isn’t the first time lawmakers have attempted to extend last call hours in California. Former Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed similar legislation in 2018.
“Without question, these two extra hours will result in more drinking,” Brown said in his veto message to the California State Senate. “California’s laws regulating late night drinking have been on the books since 1913. I believe we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem.”
Brown cited the California Highway Patrol’s belief it would lead to more drunk driving.
This also isn’t Haney’s first attempt to pass such legislation. Haney introduced a last call extension measure to just seven cities in 2022 with co-author Sen. Scott Wiener (D - San Francisco). It was voted down in the Assembly.
Haney is looking ahead at several large events heading to California over the next few years and how the measure could help small businesses when they arrive.
California is set to host two Super Bowls - in Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium in 2026 and Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium in 2027. The state will also host the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“We have to sometimes get out of our own way.” Haney said. “Allow our cities and our businesses to lead and be able to attract the people and businesses that we know [are] there.”
Haney thinks a thriving night time economy is essential to bringing back tourists, visitors, and office workers.
“World class cities have world class nightlife,” Haney said. “We, in California, deserve [a] world class nightlife too.”
The bill will be heard in the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee on April 23rd.