2021 Legislative Roundup: COVIDWashing Runs Rampant

• Print
• Email

Details

Created: Wednesday, November 24 2021 14:55

Yet the news was not all bleak. The Alcohol Justice and CAPA legislative "batting averages" for 2021 are below.

Positions Taken	Passed Bills	Failed or Held Bills
AJ Supported	2	4
AJ Opposed	7	11

Including all bills for which AJ took a position, our batting average was an impressive 0.541. However, that counts bills that were held over for the next legislative session as wins. Those bills may return next year and be signed into law. Including only bills that made it to the Governor's desk, Alcohol Justice went 4 for 12, for a 0.333 batting average.

For reference, the 2021 Major League Baseball leader in batting average was Trea Turner, with 0.328.

Probably the most significant loss was the expanded footprint for nearly every alcohol licensee interested in pursuing it. This resulted in the so-called "parklets" which have already become a flashpoint for noise violations and for being occasionally crashed into by intoxicated drivers. Other notable losses included allowing wineries to open more than one "tasting room," and continuation of the cocktail-to-go policies advanced by ABC as regulatory relief. The latter bill, however, was notably watered down to only allow these cocktails to be picked up in person, blunting app-based delivery companies' efforts to get deeper into the alcohol sales field.

Notable victories included bills that incentivizes the California justice system to provide buprenorphine or other medication-assisted treatment to returning citizens, and a strengthening of ABC's ability to use minor decoys when checking alcohol licensees' legal compliance.

Notably dangerous bills that may return include SB 793, a bill that would grant all music venues a liquor license regardless of the presence of minors. In essence, the requirement to card at the door would be lifted for any venue with a sound system. This policy is a remarkably ill-conceived effort to promote the entertainent industry, and not only greatly facilitates alcohol advertising to youth, but increases the likelihood young concertgoers will be subjected to dangerous or predatory behavior. Alcohol Justice is monitoring this and other two-year bills closely.

Image courtesy Dan Gaken. Used under a Creative Commons license.

---

New Watchdog Tool Puts Power Back Into the Community

• Print
• Email

Details

Created: Monday, May 03 2021 09:31

For over a year now, California state leaders have been calling for alcohol deregulation, framing it as an emergency measure to keep bars and restaurants afloat. Now, as the state slowly claws its way out of the pandemic-induced chaos, legislators are trying to make these "emergency" measures permanent. These "regulatory relief" policies--including app-based delivery of cocktails, service area pushed out into public space, and vastly expanded bar footprints--have one intention: to increase the amount of alcohol consumed in California.

This is a reckless and craven appeal to Big Alcohol lobbyists, and utterly unconcerned with the harms that befall the public. But the community has always had a way to talk back, by registering complaints about alcohol bars, restaurants, and stores to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). However, many residents are not aware they have this power and right. To help directly connect our neighbors to ABC, Alcohol Justice has created the ABC Online Complaint Portal. This portal allows anyone to submit a complaint directly to ABC.

In addition, we have compiled a Field Guide to Regulatory Relief. Designed to work hand-in-hand with the complaint portal, the Field Guide lets residents know their experiences are not just pet peeves--they are real violations of the obligations alcohol-selling businesses have to be good neighbors.

We know what harms arise from uncontrolled alcohol sales. As alcohol taxes and regulations are slashed across the country, we are experiencing a spike in every indicator of alcohol overuse. Fatal liver disease has been on the rise for 20 years; alcohol use disorder for 30. California has seen steady increases in fatal DUIs, and reviews of death certificates find a 50% increase in the rate of alcohol-related deaths since 1999. Alcohol-related mortality is the major cause of preventable deaths among adolescents, being a deciding factor in motor vehicle crashes, homicides, and suicides.

Yet, as a California resident, you do not need to have witnessed death to have a right to complain about a venue. Noise, litter, violence or threatening behavior from patrons, reckless outdoor alcohol advertising, disregard for laws regarding sales to minors or minors on the premises--these are all good reasons to file a complaint using our portal. Complaints can be anonymous, or you can leave your name if you would like ABC to follow up with you.

This is not even a matter of taking the power back. The power has always been yours. Despite what many in the legislature would have us believe, selling alcohol is a privilege, not a right. Those who embrace it have an obligation to look after their patrons and communities, not just their bottom lines.

---