CA Lawmakers Fight To Extend Bar Hours To 4 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A Democratic lawmaker unveiled a bill to fight for longer bar hours in California on Friday.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced SB 930, a bill that he's reintroduced in different forms three different times. The law would enact a pilot program to allow the sale of alcohol from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. for bars and liquor stores in seven California cities.

Wiener made the case that nightlife helps stimulate California's economy and longer hours could help businesses struggling to get back on track during the pandemic, he said at a news conference in San Francisco.

"We know nightlife is so incredibly important for our culture and for our economy. When you think of why people move to cities, one of them is that they want to have a vibrant nightlife, be able to have fun and enjoy themselves," he said.

The pilot program would apply to the following cities: Cathedral City, Coachella, Fresno, Oakland, Palm Springs, and West Hollywood, and the City and County of San Francisco.