The latest attempt at Sunday alcohol sales legislation in the state Senate appears to be in trouble.
Opposition, especially from Christian conservatives, could prevent a Senate vote this year on a bill that would give Georgia communities a vote whether to allow Sunday beer, wine and liquor sales at stores.
Only a few weeks after giving it a strong chance of passing, Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers said Monday that he’s not sure it will reach the Senate floor this session.
Such powerful backing typically gives bills a pretty good chance of passing the Senate.
But GOP leaders in the Senate have long been skittish about Sunday sales, stalling similar bills every year since 2007. And religious conservatives are increasing pressure on Senate Republicans to kill the legislation again.
When asked Monday whether he thought the Senate would vote on the bill this year, Rogers said: "I have no idea. I know there are strong feelings on both sides. There is no reason to bring a bill to the floor if it doesn't have the support to pass."
What Rogers meant was that it may not have the vote of Republicans, who hold the majority. Rogers said the GOP caucus has a rule not to bring a bill to the Senate floor without the support of a majority of the party's senators.
In the past, Republican lawmakers have blamed the bill's defeat on Sonny Perdue, a Christian conservative who vowed to veto any Sunday sales legislation while he was governor. Gov. Nathan Deal, who took office in January, said he would sign the legislation.
Georgians in many parts of the state can already buy alcoholic beverages on Sunday at bars, restaurants and ballparks. Georgia is one of three states with a total ban on Sunday sales at stores.
The Sunday sales bill easily passed a Senate committee two weeks ago. Balfour said then that it could be voted on a week after the committee approval.
But that didn't happen. The Christian Coalition and preachers made their opposition clear, sending e-mails and letters and lobbying GOP senators. By late last week, Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, who is friends with Gwinnett County liquor store owners who oppose the bill, was predicting it was in trouble.
While Rogers said the Senate GOP caucus has not polled its members, it commissioned a phone poll of Republican primary voters to determine their support. One senator said the poll amounted to asking the most conservative GOP voters their thoughts on Sunday sales, and just over half opposed the concept.
The grocery store lobby, which has been pushing the bill for years, countered with a poll of 1,500 likely Republican voters in five key GOP Senate districts. In each district, GOP voters supported letting local voters decide the issue. That sentiment was most prevalent in metro Atlanta, where other polls have shown strong support for Sunday sales.
Matt Towery, CEO of the polling and media company InsiderAdvantage, said Republican senators won't lose re-election if they support letting voters decide Sunday sales. What some of them fear, he said, is that they will have to face Christian conservative opposition in a primary.
The Christian Coalition has made it clear that Sunday sales will be an election-year issue. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, which supports the bill, will include it in its scorecard rating lawmakers.
Rogers' comments Monday bolstered the spirits of Jerry Luquire, president of the Georgia Christian Coalition.
"I can only say that the grass roots have been heard from, along with local elected officials who don't want to have to decide whether to put this issue on their ballot," Luquire said.
Jim Tudor, a convenience store lobbyist who has pushed Sunday sales legislation for years, said he is still confident about the legislation's chances.
"We are early in the session, and we believe we will get a vote on this issue and we believe when that vote is taken, that the Senate will vote to allow Georgians to vote locally on whether or not to allow such sales," he said.
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