A bill that would have allowed bars to stay open until 4 am in nine California cities – including Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Coachella – was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown on Friday.
SB 905 would have created a five-year pilot program that would have allowed the cities to allow serving booze past the current cutoff of 2 am at bars, nightclubs, and restaurants. The cities would have had say over which neighborhoods would have been allowed and to impose other restrictions.
In his vetoing of the bill, Brown claimed said he believes the bill would lead to problems including more drunk driving.
“California’s laws regulating late-night drinking have been on the books since 1913,” Brown said in a statement (via KEQD). “I believe we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem.”
Scott Wiener, the State Senator behind the bill called the 2 am limit, “bad leftover policy from over a century ago” that will “continue to stifle our nightlife economy.”
He said he will attempt to pass the bill again next year.
