STATE ASSEMBLYMEMBER MATT HANEY, D-San Francisco, is leading a statewide push that he says would make it cheaper and easier for restaurants to stay open as the industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to battle rising costs.
Haney on Friday introduced Assembly Bill 1470, known as The Restaurant Recovery Act, alongside Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, D-South Los Angeles, which would remove certain state rules for grease traps, interior finishes in restrooms and bars, pass-through windows and coverings for temporary food facilities.
“Our state has, unfortunately, too often had inflexible, unnecessary and outdated mandates that put burdens on our restaurants, sometimes forcing them to spend tens of thousands of dollars,” Haney said at a press conference Friday.
He said the rules led many to delay opening, close temporarily or close altogether. “That’s what we’re here to fix,” he said.
The legislation would change a number of smaller state safety measures that Haney said are “only making things worse” for business owners.
Current state law bans above-ground grease traps in food prep areas, requires interior finishes in restrooms and bars that are like those in food prep areas, and limits the size of pass-through windows, which allow food and drinks to be transferred from inside the restaurant to customers outside.
If Haney’s legislation had been in place before, Brittney Valles, the former owner of the now-closed Guerilla Tacos in Los Angeles, said her restaurant wouldn’t have had to shut down for months.
“I think AB 1470 might’ve been tailored for Guerilla Tacos because we dealt with every single issue that it is going to save us from,” Valles said Friday.
Guerilla Tacos’ struggles — costs, lack of clarity around permitting rules, and uncertainty in operations — are those that are felt by businesses across the state, Haney said.
Eddie Navarrette, executive director of the Independent Hospitality Coalition, said the legislation would solve a piece of a larger problem in the industry.
“How can we make it easier to allow the resilience of restaurants to thrive?” Navarrette asked. “There is no one answer, but four of them are in AB 1470.”