Backers of a bill to allow alcohol sales in stores on Sundays are seeing a flicker of life in legislation that appeared all but dead less than two weeks ago.

With more than 30,000 Georgians signing a petition to end the state's prohibition on Sunday sales and with the House and Senate showing a willingness to consider other alcohol legislation, backers of the Sunday bill say they at least have a shot this year.

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It is something they might not have had before state Senate leaders decided to put two bills on Tuesday's calendar. The pair would allow Sunday beer sales at Gwinnett's new baseball stadium and let limo services offer alcoholic beverages to customers, respectively.

"The chances definitely improved since they decided to have beer baseball and limousine liquor," said Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland), the sponsor of Sunday store sales. "We're off and running."

The Senate might not be alone in considering alcohol legislation this week. The House could be voting on a bill that would let Georgians buy wine directly from farm wineries over the Internet.

Any of the alcohol bills could provide a "vehicle" to jump-start the Sunday alcohol sales legislation stalled in the Senate. In legislative parlance, a vehicle is a bill onto which other bills are attached.

Supporters of the legislation to allow local voters to decide on Sunday beer, wine and liquor sales at stores are almost certain to try to tack their bill onto one of the other alcohol measures that lawmakers will debate during the final few weeks of the 2008 session.

Last year, the measure that would legalize Sunday sales made it out of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee before it was stalled by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Senate leaders.

Senate leaders said none of their constituents had contacted them about the bill.

That situation has changed in the past few weeks, as the Internet petition drive gained steam and news reports stirred new interest in the bill.

Lobbyists for grocery and convenience stores backing the bill have created a new Web site called votesundaysales.com to promote the legislation. The site makes it easy for viewers to send an email message to the governor, lieutenant governor and lawmakers on the issue.

The Internet petition drive started by an anonymous Atlanta business executive took off after it was mentioned in the media. The petition's address has been passed around via emails from friend to friend and continues to gain signatures daily.

Meanwhile, Jim Beck, president of the Georgia Christian Coalition, has promised his own e-mail drive to get opponents of Sunday alcohol sales into the fight to stop the bill.

Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Christian conservative who does not drink, hinted last year that he would veto any Sunday alcohol sales legislation. And several Senate Republican leaders have voiced opposition to the bill and cited opposition from religious conservatives who dominate elections in many GOP districts.

On Friday, Cagle, also a Republican, said about Sunday sales, "There clearly is a constituency group that favors that." But he added, "On my priority list, I've got the water crisis; I've got transportation [and] education. I can't lose sight of the big picture."

Although the Senate is expected to pass the bill to let people buy beer at the new Gwinnett stadium on Sundays, it remains a long shot that the chamber would support legislation allowing Georgians buy beer in stores on Sundays.

Harp might have to wait to see whether the House is willing to attach his proposition to one of the Senate bills.

"I'm sure my contemporaries in the House of Representatives," he said, "will address the needs of all the people of Georgia."