Late Friday afternoon, California State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced he had introduced a new bill, SB 980, which would vastly disempower communities and regulators in determining new alcohol licenses. Among other provisions, the law would prohibit the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control from using proximity to schools, churches, community centers, and other youth-centric spaces as reasons to deny a permit. In addition, it includes provisions that would reduce the transparency of the permitting process, both by removing notiffication requirements for new licenses, and artificially terminating complaints against licensees.
Alcohol justice will provide more details on this bill next week.