Los Angeles Rally to STOP SB 930 - 4 a.m. Bar Bill in Southern California

Los Angeles City Council Opposition Resolution to be Introduced

LOS ANGELES, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance (L.A. DAPA), California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) and Alcohol Justice will be joined by Los Angeles City Council Members led by Councilmember Paul Koretz at a City Hall rally to oppose California SB 930. The "gut & amend" bill, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assembly Member Mark Haney (D-San Francisco) is the 5^th attempt since 2013 to disrupt the protections of California's statewide uniform last call.

What:   Rally / Media Event 
When:  Wednesday, July 27, 2022  9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Where: 200 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (1st Street Steps)
Who:

• Cruz Avila, Executive Director, Alcohol Justice
• Paul Koretz, Los Angeles City Council, District 5
• Richard Zaldivar, The Wall Las Memorias Project
• Dr. Marielle Reataza, Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse (NAPAFASA)
• Aracely Ocampo, California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA)
• Ruben Rodriguez, Pueblo y Salud, L.A. DAPA
• Alec Foster, Women Against Gun Violence (WAGV)
• Jorge Diaz, HIV Prevention Activist
• Janis Reid, Board Member, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Network of Southern California

Why:  SB 930 would allow closing times for on-sale retailers to be extended from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. as part of a dangerous  "pilot program." The experiment would take place in 7 cities: San Francisco, Oakland, West Hollywood, Fresno, Cathedral City, Coachella, and Palm Springs.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), California currently suffers more annual alcohol-related harm than any other state: over 11,000 alcohol-related deaths, $35 billion in total costs, $18.5 billion in state costs. The CDC also identifies maintaining existing last call times as one of the 10 key policies for reducing the harms from reckless drinking and from alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths.

California taxpayers do not need to pay for additional public health and safety harms that will follow (especially in low-income communities of color) extending last call to profit the nightlife industry.

Why it matters to Los Angeles: There is no local control when it comes to alcohol because danger doesn't stay in the district where the drinking occurs. If this bill becomes law, Los Angeles will be surrounded by late night drinkers -- drivers traveling drunk back through the district in the early morning commute hours.

Quick Facts – SB 930:

• Is a poorly conceived and inadequately funded pilot project
• Strips away uniform protections of 2 a.m. last call
• Costs the state at least $3-4 million per year to administer, mitigate the harm, and clean the blood off the highway; costs cities and towns in "Splash Zones" millions more
• Disregards 40 years of peer-reviewed, public health research on the dangers of extending last call
• Ignores the existing annual catastrophe of alcohol-related harm in California
• Uses the false narrative of COVID economic recovery to subsidize and reward late-night alcohol-sellers at government and tax-payer expense

Alcohol Justice encourages the public to TAKE ACTION to STOP SB 930: Text JUSTICE to 313131 or visit: https://alcoholjustice.org/take-action/stop-sb-930-no-late-last-calls-in-ca-not-now-not-ever

CONTACT: 
Mayra Jimenez 323 683-4687                           
Christina Mira 510-829-8982
Alison Simard 213-473-7467

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SOURCE Alcohol Justice