AB 828: Alcoholic beverage control: neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses. - California

02/19/25 - Introduced → 04/11/25 - Amended Assembly · 5 edits · Apr 11, 2025

MODERATE

The amendment significantly reduces the number of new neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses that can be issued in Los Angeles County, cutting the annual cap from 30 to 12 and the total cap from 150 to 60. It also reorganizes the census tract groupings, consolidating several previously separate neighborhoods into larger combined areas with adjusted per-area caps, and changes the state-mandated local program designation from yes to no.

SCOPE

Annual cap on new neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses reduced from 30 per year to 12 per year.

Total number of new licenses that can be issued under the bill reduced from 150 to 60.

ELIGIBILITY

Census tract groupings were reorganized: tracts previously in separate groups (covering areas like South LA, West LA, and other neighborhoods) were consolidated into larger combined groups. For example, tracts that had their own caps of 5 or 10 licenses were merged into a larger group with a cap of 20.

REQUIREMENT

Per-area concurrent license caps were adjusted: the first group's cap changed from 30 to 20, the second group's cap changed from 25 to 20, and the third group's cap changed from 10 to 20.

FISCAL

State-mandated local program designation changed from yes to no, meaning the bill no longer triggers state reimbursement obligations to local agencies for costs it imposes.

10/13/25 - Chaptered → AB828 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between these two versions. The diff reflects a transition from the official chaptered (printed) format of AB 828 to the web-based bill text page on the California Legislature website. All statutory language, including the full text of Section 23826.24 and the legislative findings in Section 2, is identical.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was reformatted from the official chaptered document (with page numbers, formal headers, and traditional legal layout) to a web-based presentation that includes website navigation elements, a digest key showing vote/appropriation/fiscal committee/local program designations, version history links, and a publication date of 10/14/2025.

09/11/25 - Enrolled → 10/13/25 - Chaptered · 3 edits · Oct 13, 2025

MINOR

AB 828 was signed into law as Chapter 715 on October 13, 2025. The diff reflects only the standard transition from an enrolled bill (as passed by the legislature) to a chaptered statute (after gubernatorial approval). No substantive policy changes were made; all legislative text remains identical.

TECHNICAL

The bill was assigned Chapter 715 and the Governor's approval date of October 13, 2025 was recorded.

Enrolled-bill formatting elements were removed, including the 'Passed the Assembly' and 'Passed the Senate' certification lines and blank signature fields.

Standard chaptered-law header text was added: 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGICAL MATERIAL' and the chapter designation.

09/02/25 - Amended Senate → 09/11/25 - Enrolled · 2 edits · Sep 11, 2025

MINOR

AB 828 moved from its Amended Senate version to the Enrolled version, which is primarily a formatting and enrollment transition. The only substantive correction is removing an erroneous duplicate section number reference (23826.21) from the bill's title, leaving only Section 23826.24. No policy changes were made between these versions.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was corrected from 'add Section 23826.21 23826.24' to 'add Section 23826.24', removing a drafting error that referenced a non-existent section number.

Amendment line-numbering markers (e.g., 'line 1', 'line 2') were removed and the document was reformatted into standard enrolled bill format with passage dates, Governor approval block, and updated page numbering.

06/25/25 - Amended Senate → 09/02/25 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · Sep 2, 2025

MODERATE

AB 828 was renumbered from Section 23826.21 to Section 23826.24 of the Business and Professions Code, likely to avoid a conflict with another bill claiming the same section number. The amendment also corrected several drafting errors (a duplicated word in the eligibility provision, a 'that who' typo, and a duplicate subdivision letter). No substantive policy changes were made; the core provisions on census tracts, license caps, transfer restrictions, and price limits remain identical.

TECHNICAL

The bill was renumbered from adding Section 23826.21 to adding Section 23826.24 of the Business and Professions Code, likely to resolve a section number conflict with another pending bill.

Corrected a drafting error in subdivision (d)(1) where 'shall not apply be eligible' was changed to 'shall not be eligible,' removing the stray word 'apply.'

Corrected a typo in subdivision (g) changing 'A person that who holds' to 'A person who holds.'

Resolved a duplicate subdivision letter where two subdivisions were both labeled '(i)' in the prior version; now properly sequenced as (i) and (j).

04/29/25 - Amended Assembly → 06/25/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Jun 25, 2025

MODERATE

The Senate amendment reduces the total cap on new neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses in Los Angeles from 60 to 40, adds a price cap preventing license transfers above the original fee paid, removes the entire off-sale privileges provision (which would have allowed beer and wine takeout sales), and adds authority for the department to designate these licenses as 'on-sale general for special use.' These changes significantly narrow the bill's scope by reducing the number of new licenses and eliminating a key commercial benefit.

SCOPE

The total number of new neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses that may be issued was reduced from 60 to 40, cutting the program size by one-third.

The entire off-sale privileges section was removed. The prior version would have allowed licensees to exercise off-sale (takeout) beer and wine privileges under Sections 23401 and 23401.5 starting January 1, 2026, including a petition process for pre-existing licenses. This commercial benefit is no longer part of the bill.

REQUIREMENT

A new provision (subdivision e, paragraph 5) prohibits selling or transferring a license issued under this section for a price greater than the original fee paid by the seller or transferor, effectively capping resale value to prevent speculation.

TECHNICAL

A new subdivision (i) authorizes the department to designate licenses issued under this section as 'on-sale general for special use,' clarifying that this designation does not alter any privileges or restrictions established by the section.

The cross-reference in subdivision (e)(4) regarding intra-neighborhood transfers was corrected from 'paragraphs (1) to (10), (3), inclusive' to 'paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive,' fixing an erroneous reference to non-existent paragraphs.

ELIGIBILITY

In subdivision (d)(1), the language was changed from 'shall not apply' to 'shall not be eligible,' shifting from prohibiting the act of submitting an application to declaring the person ineligible for the license.

04/11/25 - Amended Assembly → 04/29/25 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Apr 29, 2025

MODERATE

AB 828 was substantially narrowed in this amendment. The entire fee waiver provision (Section 23320.3) that would have waived license renewal fees for Los Angeles County licensees until January 1, 2027 was completely removed. Additionally, the number of new neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses to be issued was cut from 150 total (30 per year) to 60 total (12 per year), and the complex system of 10 census tract groups with varying caps was simplified into just 3 groups each capped at 20 concurrent licenses.

FISCAL

The entire Section 23320.3 providing a waiver of license renewal fees for all licenses in the County of Los Angeles until January 1, 2027 was deleted. This included provisions for fee waiver requests, certification under penalty of perjury, extension of renewal dates, department guidelines, and an exemption from the Administrative Procedure Act.

The state-mandated local program designation was changed from 'yes' to 'no,' and the related reimbursement provision (former Section 4) was removed, consistent with the elimination of the fee waiver that had imposed costs on local agencies.

SCOPE

The annual cap on new neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses was reduced from 30 per year to 12 per year, and the total cap was reduced from 150 to 60 licenses.

The census tract groupings were consolidated from 10 separate groups (with individual caps ranging from 5 to 35 concurrent licenses) into just 3 groups, each with a uniform cap of 20 concurrently held licenses.

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

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