California Senate bill could keep San Francisco, Oakland bars open until 4 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A new state Senate bill could keep bars and nightclubs in San Francisco and Oakland open two hours later -until 4 a.m.

Senate bill 930 has been gaining momentum among California lawmakers with the hope of restoring business lost during the pandemic.

"The later it is the more fun it is then it's just a hard stop," said Keith Wilson, who owns several bars and nightclubs in San Francisco including The Boardroom at Green and Powell streets. He says closing at 2 a.m has proven to be problematic.

"People are then dumped out onto the street then everyone's just on top of each other drunk they don't have anywhere to go so we always had problems then," said Wilson. "People not wanting to leave, vandalism, phone thefts a lot of the funky stuff happens at 2 [a.m.] so it's a much less problematic situation if people leave gradually."

Wilson maintained his businesses through the pandemic, but it wasn't easy.

"People needed to get out people needed to do something, so we maintained some business and we were able to at least get to a breakeven point," Wilson said.

He is still reeling from the hit his businesses took during the strictest lockdown times.

"We're not anywhere where we used to be, so we have a lot of catching up to do."

But he says SB 930 could be a game changer.

"We really do find the majority of our business after 11 p.m.," said Wilson. "I think it could make a big difference."

Sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the bill is intended to help bars gain back some of the profits lost through the pandemic.

"I think we'd see a good share of business between 1:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. and I think it could be 15% easily," he said of his potential added profit.

And Wilson says that the extension could see more benefits beyond profit increases for local bars.

"Sometimes people just don't want to go home, they don't want to leave so it creates a hostile situation," said Wilson "We didn't get any help so if those businesses are few and far between, we definitely need the help and I think it would help a lot."

Other cities in the proposed legislation include Cathedral City, Palm Springs, Coachella, and West Hollywood.

But the bill has seen some pushback. Critics say the extension could increase drunk driving rates in these cities and add more pressure to local police departments.

Fresno was originally included among the pilot cities until late July when the city's mayor withdrew support citing pressure it could add on the town's newly established social district.