Once left for dead, the Sunday alcohol sales bill will likely reach a vote of the full Senate on Wednesday.
Senate Bill 10, which would allow local communities to vote to allow the sale of alcohol in stores on Sundays, will be voted on by the Senate Rules Committee Tuesday. A favorable outcome would put the bill on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
But before supporters can celebrate, passage in the full Senate is not assured.
Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, said he has seen the evidence of alcohol abuse in his district.
"I am deeply ambivalent about it," Fort said, adding he may not know how he will lean until the vote is called for, if that happens.
Getting the bill to this point still was cause for rejoicing among supporters. Blocked for years by the objections of former Gov. Sonny Perdue, advocates believed this was their year after new Gov. Nathan Deal indicated that he would not stand in the bill's way.
But after making it through a committee vote, the bill was held up by internal politics of the ruling Republican caucus. What changed isn't clear, even to the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Bulloch, R-Ochlocknee.
"I just asked the leadership to whip the question again," Bulloch said, referring to the process by which caucus leaders informally poll their members. Previous whip counts showed the caucus deeply split.
Sen. Jim Butterworth, R-Cornelia, the only lawmaker to vote against SB 10 in committee, was frustrated to learn that it was moving again.
"We have been excluded from any kind of discussions about it," Butterworth said. "I'm not sure how it transpired that it was something we wanted to come back up."
Staff writer Chris Quinn contributed to this report.
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