California considers extending last call to 4 a.m.

Anyone who has spent a late night at a bar has heard the echoes of “last call,” the signal that the final drinks of the night are being served and that soon it will be time to head home.

In California, the warning typically comes just before 2 a.m., after which it is illegal to sell alcohol anywhere in the state. Now a proposal in the state Legislature wants to change that.

Senate Bill 930 would allow seven cities in California to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. as part of a five-year pilot program beginning in 2025. The places included are San Francisco, Fresno, Oakland, Cathedral City, Palm Springs, Coachella and West Hollywood.

Nationwide, the most common last call is at 2 a.m., but bars in New York City can serve until 4 a.m. and some in Chicago till 5 a.m. Nevada has no mandated time for last call.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, who wrote California’s proposal, said extending the hours that businesses can offer alcohol would provide them an economic boost after an especially tough few years.

“Coming out of the pandemic, our nightlife venues are really hurting,” Wiener told me. “For some of these small businesses, this could be the difference between being viable and not being viable.”

The bill is scheduled for a hearing this week before the state Assembly Committee on Appropriations. To become law, it would need majority approval from both the Senate and Assembly as well as a signature from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Although similar bills in the state have failed in the past, Newsom, who owns a winery and hospitality company, is expected to be more sympathetic than his predecessor. In 2018, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed an earlier version of Wiener’s bill, which would have included Los Angeles and Sacramento, and cited a potential increase in drunken driving.