It may not be long until Californians can order a beer at a bar to go, walk it straight out the door and drink it outside.

Democratic State Sen. Scott Wiener wants to allow California cities and counties to designate “entertainment zones” where bars and restaurants could serve alcoholic drinks that people can consume on public streets and sidewalks. If Senate Bill 969 is passed, Californians age 21 and over can raise a toast in the glorious outdoors by Jan. 1, 2025.

When Wiener announced the measure Friday, he said it would help revitalize downtowns where foot traffic has plummeted since the pandemic, including his home of San Francisco. Cities will be able to tailor these zones to their needs, allowing bars and restaurants to sell to-go drinks similar to what vendors do at festivals.

• Wiener, in a statement: “Getting people back out in the streets is key to the economic recovery of cities across California. By creating Entertainment Zones, we’re giving people a reason to go back to areas where recovery has been slow while creating a vital new revenue stream for bars and restaurants.”

Wiener also cited research from the University of Toronto that tracked cell phone activity to determine how well cities have rebounded since the pandemic. In October it found that San Jose had recovered 96% of visitors to its downtown area, surpassing Los Angeles at 83%, San Francisco at 67% and Sacramento at 66%.

Hoping to continue that momentum, the cities of San Jose and San Francisco are included as sponsors of the bill, with San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan saying it will “make it easier for local businesses to host block parties, wine walks” and other events “to help drive the vibrant future of our downtown.”

The proposal is likely to get pushback from neighborhood groups worried about public nuisances and noise, as well as organizations concerned with alcohol-related health impacts and harm. 

Last year, Wiener won a similar law limited to only San Francisco. Groups including the California Alcohol Policy Alliance and California Council on Alcohol Problems spoke out against the measure, known then as SB 76. An organization known as Alcohol Justice said the measure would make it easier for underaged people to “obtain alcohol within these entertainment zones” and “throw open the door to a litany of potential harms, liability entanglements, and unwanted and uncontrollable neighborhood disruptions.”

These organizations did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new bill has not been referred to a committee yet, but a spokesperson for Wiener’s office said the Senate committee on governmental organization will likely consider it, similar to how it reviewed the 2023 measure. That hearing is expected to take place in March, when the public will have a chance to comment.

Speaking of contentious legislation, two Oakland Democratic lawmakers announced Monday they’ll try again to rein in powerful Big Tech behemoths, who dominate Silicon Valley and who have successfully fought past attempts. 

SB 976 by Sen. Nancy Skinner aims to protect kids from social media addiction by giving parents choice over the kinds of social media feeds for children under 18, plus the option to block notifications and access for minors at night and during the school day. The first-in-the-nation bill would also set the default time limit at one hour for each social media platform.

• Skinner, in a statement: “We’ve waited long enough for social media companies to act. SB 976 is needed now to establish sensible guardrails so parents can protect their kids from these preventable harms.”

Assembly Bill 1949 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks tries to further protect kids’ online privacy.

• Wicks, in a statement: “In a digital age where the vulnerabilities of young users are continually exploited, we cannot afford to let our laws lag behind.”

They’re backed by Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is busy in court defending a landmark 2022 California law that seeks to ensure that online products, services or features are age appropriate (the tech industry sued to stop the measure). Bonta is also helping lead a lawsuit against Meta that alleges the company purposely designed and offered harmful features that addict children.

• Bonta, in a statement: "Social media companies have shown us time and time again that for profits, they are willing to harness addictive content to target a vulnerable population: our children.”

AB 1949 would strengthen that 2022 law by banning businesses from collecting, using or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18 without consent and without permission from parents for those younger than 13.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has opposed similar bills on civil liberties grounds, told the Sacramento Bee: “We recognize the genuine concern for the well-being of children and welcome conversation about how to address it. However, we have raised considerable concerns about past iterations of similar proposals, which run the risk of harming the expression and privacy rights of those they seek to protect.”

NetChoice, a trade group representing Meta, released a statement opposing the bills, which it called “part of an insulting ongoing drumbeat that parents are too weak and stupid to know how to raise their children — and that the government should do it for them.”

A bill by Sen. Aisha Wahab to help people get the mental health support they need in times of crisis without police involvement is making some disability rights advocates bristle. 

As CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow explains, SB 402 would allow psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists and clinical counselors to place individuals — who are believed to be a danger to themselves or others — against their will in a mental health facility or hospital for a 72-hour evaluation.

Currently, only police officers and county-designated officials and people on mental health crisis teams or who manage treatment facilities can issue these involuntary confinements.

The Democrat from Fremont told Ryan that mental health professionals, who often interact with mentally ill people, are limited in their abilities to place someone into mandatory care without involving police. 

• Wahab: “The individuals that are actually trained in this science, in this profession, in this industry, are not empowered enough to make the best decision for the people they work with the most.” 

But disability rights advocates argue that people would be discouraged from seeking help if they knew their therapists had the authority to confine them. It would also be logistically difficult for non-law enforcement agencies to transport or temporarily detain someone against their will.

For more on the bill, which passed the Senate on Monday, read Ryan’s story.

Claiming that security at the California-Mexico border has “deteriorated significantly,” Assembly Republicans Friday sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom urging him to curb what they see as a “proliferation” of human trafficking and drugs.

But as Wendy Fry of CalMatters’ California Divide team reports, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is already pouring tens of millions of dollars into expanding surveillance capabilities along the 2,000-mile-long U.S. southern border.

The agency is expected to spend about $67.8 million on 277 new high-tech surveillance towers — some near San Ysidro in San Diego County — and upgrading 191 existing towers over the next 14 years. Also, at least one state agency, the California Coastal Commission, has approved temporary surveillance towers in Del Mar and on an Air Force base in Santa Barbara County.

These towers can detect humans from one-and-a-half miles away, operate around the clock and autonomously track vehicles. Their 360-degree views are sometimes pointed directly into people’s backyards, raising concerns about the potential surveillance of the 7.3 million people who live on both sides of the 150-mile border between California and Baja California.

While advocates urge the state to invest more in humanitarian aid instead, Newsom has said the state cannot afford it while facing a projected budget deficit of at least $38 billion “without federal support.”

To learn more about what other new tools Homeland Security has deployed along the border, read Wendy’s story.

Wendy also reports that Gov. Newsom is urging Congress to approve $310 million included in an emergency appropriations bill to address contamination in the Tijuana River Valley. More than 300,000 Californians live near the polluted river, and recent torrential storms caused an estimated 14.5 billion gallons of raw sewage to flow from Baja California into California. The Newsom administration says it has also invested $32 million in state funding to help clean up the area.

CalMatters Commentary

CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: California’s long list of programs and projects that fail to deliver has a couple of new items.

A California program providing trust funds for foster youth and COVID orphans is giving traumatized young people a chance to pursue their dreams, writes Celestina Ramirez, a senior at Options for Youth Public Charter School in Victorville.