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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 24
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Chamber backs Sunday beer, wine sales
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has decided to back legislation allowing voters to decide if they want to allow beer and wine sales at stores on Sunday.
The chamber had included legalization of Sunday sales on its legislative agenda for the 2007 session, but they hadn’t formally come out in favor of the bill sponsored by Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland).
That bill would allow voters in each county or city to decide if they want Sunday beer and wine sales at stores. The chamber’s legislative affairs council voted to support the bill this morning.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has come out against the proposal, saying last week it would have a “tough time geting the last vote. “
But supporters say they are pushing forward with the bill anyway. It must first go through a committee run by Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), who has also been cool to the proposal.
And although he opposes the bill, Perdue said earlier this week he wasn’t threatening to veto it if it passes.
“I don’t think I said that at all,” Perdue said during brief interview with WXIA-TV. “These are legislative issues, and I really don’t comment on vetoes. I try, out of respect, not to threaten vetoes.”
Shafer on Tuesday filed a resolution calling for the issue to be studied over the summer, a move that could kill it for the 2007 session. However, the chamber’s support is significant because it is the top business lobby in the state, and lawmakers generally listen to the group.
Joseph Fleming, lobbyist for the chamber, said Sunday sales would “put Georgia on a level playing field with our neighboring states so businesses in Georgia can compete.” Sunday sales are legal, in some form, in the states that border Georgia.
Fleming said it also is unfair for one segment of businesses in the state - restaurants and bars - to be able to sell beer and wine on Sundays but not grocery and convenience stores.
And he noted that the bill lets voters decide the issue.
Combined, he said, “That’s a pretty irresistible combination of reasons to support it from a business perspective.”
Jim Tudor, lobbyist for the convenience store industry, said, “We’re certainly pleased to see the chamber reaffirm its stance. It’s a business issue. Georgia businesses are not able to compete with businesses from other states.”
Fleming said his group would testify before Shafer’s committee on SB 26, the Sunday sales bill. However, that’s if Shafer lets the bill be considered. Shafer said Tuesday he doesn’t want to spend a lot of time on SB 26 because of the governor’s opposition.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Liquor Laws
Courts see increasing number of domestic cases
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears declared today that the state of Georgia’s judiciary is “solid, sound and stable,” but she decried the increase in domestic relations cases in state courts.
Such cases now account for 65 percent of all civil cases in Georgia’s superior courts, Sears said, and now outnumber all criminal cases. Divorce, drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence and child neglect are fueling the growing caseload, she said.
“Our trial judges are working hard trying to fill a void that has resulted from this sad cultural phenomenon,” Sears said during her annual address to a joint session of the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate. “They are being asked to do this even though they typically lack the resources and expertise to do much more than pick up the broken pieces after families have already fallen apart.”
Sears then called on the lawmakers for help.
“I ask that you join with us in refusing to accept the decline of the two-parent family as inevitable,” she said. “We can and we must do everything we can to strengthen our families because it is the best way we have to facilitate responsibility, ensure equality, and shape self-governing citizens who may never need to see the inside of a court of law.”
Lawmakers gave Sears a standing ovation.
