AB 2388 amends Section 23957 of the California Business and Professions Code, the provision governing what must appear on applications for retail alcoholic beverage licenses for premises that are under construction. The legislative counsel’s digest labels the change nonsubstantive; the bill replaces the section text but does not add new duties, thresholds, or enforcement mechanisms.
For compliance officers, attorneys, and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), the practical effect is minimal: existing application requirements and ABC’s discretion to request additional information remain intact. The bill is primarily a drafting correction to keep the statute aligned with legislative style and codification practices rather than a policy shift that would alter licensing outcomes or fiscal responsibilities.
At a Glance
What It Does
AB 2388 replaces the text of Business and Professions Code §23957 governing applications for retail alcohol licenses for premises under construction. The new language restates that applicants must provide information required by the article and any other information the department may request to determine qualification for a license.
Who It Affects
Directly affected parties are the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, applicants for retail alcoholic beverage licenses for premises being constructed or under construction, and legal advisors and license consultants who prepare those applications. Vendors that supply application forms and online filing systems will need to confirm statutory citations match updated text.
Why It Matters
The bill preserves ABC’s existing authority and applicant obligations while updating statutory wording; it therefore matters mostly for statutory clarity, code publishers, and internal compliance checks rather than for operational or policy changes.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
AB 2388 targets a single provision in the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act: Business and Professions Code §23957. That section addresses applications for retail alcohol licenses when the premises are not yet built or are under construction.
The bill substitutes the statutory text with language that, on its face, restates the same rule — applicants must submit the information required elsewhere in the article and any other information the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control deems necessary to determine licensability.
The legislative counsel describes the amendment as nonsubstantive. In practice, a nonsubstantive amendment is intended to correct phrasing, resolve grammatical or cross-reference issues, or harmonize language with publishing conventions without changing legal rights, duties, or enforcement standards.
Because the bill does not add new criteria for licensure, impose timelines, or alter penalty structures, ABC’s existing review processes and discretionary information requests remain the operative law.Operationally, the change requires little more than an update to the statutory citation and any internal references used by ABC and by counsel preparing applications. Code annotators, compliance manuals, and electronic application portals should be checked and adjusted so they cite the current statute text.
The bill does not trigger new reporting, fee, or staffing obligations for state agencies, and the digest indicates no fiscal committee referral or appropriation.
The Five Things You Need to Know
AB 2388 amends Business and Professions Code §23957, the statute governing applications for retail alcoholic beverage licenses for premises under construction.
The legislative counsel’s digest characterizes the change as nonsubstantive, indicating no new regulatory duties or substantive policy alterations.
The substituted text restates that applicants must provide information required by the article and any other information the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control may require.
The bill contains no appropriation and was not referred to the fiscal committee, signaling no anticipated fiscal impact on state or local government.
Sponsor: Assemblymember David Tangipa; introduced February 20, 2026, in the 2025–2026 Regular Session of the California Legislature.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Rewrites the application-information requirement for premises under construction
This section replaces the statutory text of B&P Code §23957. The rewritten provision expresses that license applications for premises being constructed must include the article’s required information and any additional information ABC requests to assess whether the premises qualify. Practically, this preserves the department’s discretionary authority to seek supplemental details while aligning the statute’s phrasing with current drafting standards. The mechanics are administrative: update statutory text, confirm cross-references, and adjust internal forms and citations where necessary.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Government across all five countries.
Explore Government in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control — gains clearer statutory wording and reduced risk of ambiguous phrasing that could complicate internal guidance or public-facing application instructions.
- Applicants for retail alcoholic beverage licenses — benefit indirectly because the amendment does not create new requirements or delay application processing.
- Legal and licensing consultants — obtain a clarified citation and wording to cite in forms and guidance materials, lowering the chance of transcription errors.
- Code publishers and compliance platforms — updating to a cleaner statutory text improves accuracy for users and reduces future correction cycles.
Who Bears the Cost
- Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control — minor administrative costs to update internal manuals, training materials, and application portals to reflect the new text.
- Publishers of annotated codes and legal databases — need to update entries and notes to reflect the amendment.
- Practitioners who maintain statutory compilations or compliance checklists — will perform routine updates to mirror the revised wording.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between the value of tidy, modernized statutory language and the risk that even a so-called nonsubstantive amendment can shift legal interpretation; lawmakers and administrators want clearer text, but every textual change opens a narrow window for re-interpretation or litigation despite the intent to leave substantive rights and duties unchanged.
Although billed as nonsubstantive, any text substitution carries a latent risk: courts or challengers could point to the new language and argue for a different interpretation than prior versions. That risk is low here because the new wording restates the same obligations, but practitioners should verify that no subtle change in punctuation, clause order, or word choice could affect interpretation in edge cases.
The bill text supplied with the bill summary shows the new language but does not highlight the precise editorial corrections made (for example, whether punctuation, cross-references, or obsolete terms were altered). Agencies and license applicants should treat this as a clarification rather than a change, but confirm that forms, online portals, and administrative rules that cite §23957 continue to work as intended.
Finally, while the absence of a fiscal committee referral suggests no material fiscal impact, small administrative update costs will fall on entities that maintain statute-based materials.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.