AB 2731: Alcoholic beverage control: neighborhood-restricted on-sale general licenses. - California

08/27/26 - Enrolled → AB2731 · 2 edits

MINOR

No substantive policy changes were made between these two versions. The diff reflects a reformatting of the same enrolled bill text from a traditional legislative document layout (with signature blocks, page numbers, and formal headers) into a web page presentation with navigation elements, search tools, and a version history sidebar. The actual statutory language of Section 23826.25 is identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was reformatted from a formal enrolled document (with Chief Clerk, Senate Secretary, and Governor signature blocks) into a web page layout with navigation menus, search bars, version history, and share options.

A 'Digest Key' section was added showing metadata: Vote: MAJORITY, Appropriation: NO, Fiscal Committee: YES, Local Program: NO.

08/18/26 - Amended Senate → 08/27/26 - Enrolled · 2 edits · Aug 27, 2026

MINOR

The bill transitioned from its Senate-amended version to the final enrolled version, with no substantive policy changes. The only differences are formatting updates reflecting the bill's passage through both chambers: it now includes the Assembly passage date (August 25, 2026), the Senate passage date (August 24, 2026), a Governor receipt block, and an approval signature line. The statutory text of Section 23826.25 is identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

Header changed from 'Amended in Senate' to enrolled format with passage dates for both the Assembly (August 25, 2026) and Senate (August 24, 2026), plus a Governor receipt and approval block.

Removed line-number annotations (line 1, line 2, etc.) that were present in the amended version, reflowing the statutory text into standard enrolled bill formatting.

06/16/26 - Amended Senate → 08/18/26 - Amended Senate · 1 edit · Aug 18, 2026

MINOR

This amendment corrects a drafting error in the numbering structure of subdivision (d) of the new Section 23826.25. The old version had a confusing duplication where paragraph (2) appeared as a standalone line followed by a second '(d)' label, making it unclear whether the eligibility requirements were part of subdivision (d) or a separate subdivision. The new version properly structures them as (d)(1) and (d)(2). No substantive policy changes were made.

TECHNICAL

Fixed numbering error in subdivision (d): the old version had a stray '(2)' line followed by a second '(d)' label before the text about application requirements. The new version correctly labels this as paragraph (2) of subdivision (d), making (d)(1) the eligibility restriction and (d)(2) the requirement that applications meet all standard on-sale general license requirements.

04/14/26 - Amended Assembly → 06/16/26 - Amended Senate · 2 edits · Jun 16, 2026

MINOR

The Senate amendment primarily clarifies the annual license issuance cap in Santa Cruz County. The Assembly version contained confusing language ('no more than 12 total five new') that could be read as allowing up to 12 licenses per year. The Senate version corrects this to clearly state 'no more than five new' licenses per year, with a total cap of 12 across all years. A secondary drafting error was introduced in subdivision (d), where the content of former paragraph (2) was moved to a new standalone subdivision also labeled (d), creating a duplicate letter designation.

REQUIREMENT

Annual issuance cap clarified from ambiguous 'no more than 12 total five new' to clearly 'no more than five new' neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses per year, until a total of 12 have been issued. This confirms the annual limit is 5, not 12.

TECHNICAL

Subdivision (d) was restructured: former paragraph (d)(2) (requiring applications to meet all on-sale general license requirements for bona fide eating places) was moved to a new standalone subdivision also labeled (d), leaving an empty (d)(2) behind. This appears to be a drafting error creating two subdivisions with the same letter.

03/19/26 - Amended Assembly → 04/14/26 - Amended Assembly · 3 edits · Apr 14, 2026

MINOR

The April 14 amendment restructures how new neighborhood-restricted on-sale general licenses are issued in Santa Cruz County, changing from a one-time cap of 12 total licenses to an annual cap of 5 per year until 12 total have been issued. It also removes a nonsubstantive amendment to Section 10 of the Business and Professions Code and now requires fiscal committee review.

Scope change

The bill's scope narrowed slightly by removing the nonsubstantive Section 10 amendment, making it exclusively about adding a new section for Santa Cruz County. However, the practical scope of license availability changed from an immediate one-time allocation of 12 licenses to a phased annual release of 5 per year.

SCOPE

The license issuance structure changed from allowing up to 12 total new licenses at once to allowing no more than 5 new licenses per year until a cumulative total of 12 have been issued. This spreads out the availability of new licenses over time rather than making all 12 available immediately.

TECHNICAL

The bill previously included an amendment to Section 10 of the Business and Professions Code (a nonsubstantive change clarifying that powers granted to a public officer may be exercised by a deputy or authorized person). This entire section was removed, making the bill solely about adding Section 23826.25.

ENFORCEMENT

The fiscal committee review requirement changed from 'no' to 'yes,' meaning the bill now requires approval by the Legislative Fiscal Committee before advancing, indicating the amendment introduced new fiscal considerations that need review.

02/20/26 - Introduced → 03/19/26 - Amended Assembly · 8 edits · Mar 19, 2026

MODERATE

AB 2731 was completely repurposed from a minor nonsubstantive amendment to Section 10 of the Business and Professions Code into a substantive new law authorizing up to 12 neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses for eating places in specific census tracts in Santa Cruz County. The original technical fix to Section 10 was retained but demoted to a secondary section. A legislative finding was added declaring that a special statute is necessary due to unique liquor license market conditions in Santa Cruz County.

SCOPE

Added new Section 23826.25 to the Business and Professions Code, authorizing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to issue no more than 12 total new original neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses to bona fide public eating places in specified census tracts in Santa Cruz County.

Added a legislative finding (Section 2) declaring that a special statute is necessary because of the unique distribution and market conditions of liquor licenses in Santa Cruz County, satisfying the constitutional requirement for local legislation.

ELIGIBILITY

Established eligibility restrictions: applicants who currently hold, have held within the past 12 months, or have any interest in an on-sale general license for the same premises are ineligible. Applicants must also meet all requirements that apply to an on-sale general license for a bona fide eating place.

REQUIREMENT

Set transfer restrictions: licenses cannot be transferred between counties, generally cannot be transferred to other premises (exceptions for fire or act of God and transfers within the same neighborhood group), and cannot be sold or transferred for more than the original fee paid.

DEFINITION

Specified two groups of census tracts in Santa Cruz County, each capped at 6 concurrently held licenses: Group 1 (tracts 1102.01 through 1107.00) and Group 2 (tracts 1211.00 through 9901.00).

ENFORCEMENT

Authorized the department to adopt rules and regulations to enforce the new section, and allowed designation of these licenses as 'on-sale general for special use' without altering privileges or restrictions.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now requires fiscal analysis due to its substantive policy content.

TECHNICAL

The original nonsubstantive amendment to Section 10 (changing 'such an' to 'the' and adding 'pursuant to law') was retained but renumbered from Section 1 to Section 1 after the new material was inserted as the primary content.

Alcoholic beverage control: neighborhood-restricted on-sale general licenses.

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