After years of failure at the hands of social conservatives and recalcitrant Republicans, the Georgia Senate on Wednesday delivered a crucial victory to those who have long sought the ability to buy alcohol in stores on Sundays.
By a 32-22 vote, Senate Bill 10 passed, which allows local communities to vote on whether to allow retail stores to sell alcohol on Sunday. The bill is thought to have a good chance in the House and Gov. Nathan Deal has indicated he would sign it into law. The House Regulated Industries Committee has set a hearing for the bill for 10 a.m. Monday.
"Georgians around the state should be pleased they are one step closer to having the opportunity to have the same rights as 47 other states," said Jim Tudor, president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores.
The vote came on the Legislature's Crossover Day, the deadline for most bills to pass from one chamber to the other, after nearly three hours of intense and sometimes emotional debate.
The Senate split in unusual ways on the issue, with religious conservatives in the GOP caucus joining with black Democrats in opposition.
Of 20 Democrats in the Senate, five voted "no," including Minority Leader Robert Brown, D-Macon. Seventeen of the 36 Republicans voted against the bill.
Supporters said the bill was about allowing local communities to make their own decisions, while opponents said it would violate the Christian Sabbath and cause increased domestic abuse and alcohol-related fatalities.
"If you vote for it, you're voting for your local governing authorities, your cities and counties to hold a referendum to let your neighbors, your friends decide what they need in their neighborhood, their cities, their counties," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Bulloch, R-Ochlocknee.
Opponents offered amendments that would have done a variety of things, including forcing counties where package sales of liquor is banned to sell liquor seven days a week if the referendum passed. Another would have forced the vote to be held on the day of the presidential primary. The bill's supporters argued that most of the amendments were poison pills designed to kill the bill.
Sen. Josh McKoon, a Columbus Republican who voted against the bill, said it dealt with a difficult issues upon which Georgians don't easily compromise.
"There are core principles that are really at war with one another," said Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus. McKoon, who voted against the bill, said. "The principle of local control. Also, the principle of preserving our traditions and the principle of policy concern of public safety. The notion of Sunday being a day of rest."
When. Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, who voted against the bill, asked McKoon if the bill would result in an increase in alcohol-related deaths, McKoon said yes.
But Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, who voted for the bill, asked McKoon to explain that.
"So you think it's safer for me to go to a sports bar and drink for six hours to watch the Super Bowl and drive home than it is for me to go Kroger and buy a six pack and drink it at home?" Balfour said.
McKoon responded that studies have shown drinking and alcohol-related accidents increase when alcohol is more readily available for purchase.
Ultimately, even opponents said they were not surprised by the outcome.
"I'm not really surprised," said Sen. Jim Butterworth, R-Cornelia, who was the only "no" vote against the bill in committee. "A lot of folks, like on a lot of issues, brought their passions today. I'm not sure how many minds were changed."
The defeat of Sunday sales has been an annual exercise at the Capitol in recent years. By late 2006, the pro-Sunday sales side was mobilizing in earnest and hired a team of high-profile lobbyists. But, then-Gov. Sonny Perdue warned lawmakers he’d likely veto the bill if it reached his desk.
In addition to Perdue, Sunday sales ran into trouble with Shafer, the long-time chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, where the bill was usually sent each year.
In 2008, polls showed two-thirds of Georgians wanted the right to vote on the issue. But, still, Republican leaders in the Senate, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, blocked it. In 2009, Cagle said he wouldn’t stand in the bill’s way but by March the bill was withdrawn and died again. In 2010, Sunday sales was largely an afterthought.
All along, the House has largely stayed out of the fight with leadership there figuring there was little to gain by pushing the issue in their chamber only to have it die in the Senate.
But in 2011, there’s a new governor who has indicated he opposes Sunday sales, but wouldn’t stand in the way of local voters having their say. It was also sent to a different committee, avoiding Shafer’s panel.
Even with that, however, the bill appeared all but dead just days ago. Last month, social conservatives around the state convinced enough Senate Republicans to at least slow it down. The Republican caucus, fearful of appearing too eager to move an alcohol bill, stalled it in committee.
It was revived earlier this week after business interest who support Sunday alcohol sales lobbied lawmakers. And now it appears – despite its rocky history – to actually have a chance.
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