Georgians who want to go to a bar and imbibe on Sundays could get a free pass once a year under legislation that passed the state Senate Thursday.
Senate Bill 103 would give cities and counties the option to allow bars to sell alcohol on one Sunday each year, but only from 12:30 p.m. to midnight. The law now limits Sunday alcohol sales to three days around St. Patrick's Day.
“Whether it is the Big Pig Jig or Oktoberfest up in Helen — or wherever it is — you get your one Sunday, whatever your big local festival is so that everybody gets treated equally,” state Sen. Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, said moments before the vote.
SB 103 was originally aimed at allowing St. Patrick’s Day revelers in Savannah to tip their cups on Sunday, March 15. But Bethel convinced the Senate to amend the bill and allow cities and counties to pick any one Sunday each year.
The measure’s sponsor — Democratic state Sen. Lester Jackson — is from Savannah, which hosts a huge annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Jackson described his bill as an economic development measure.
“This bill promotes tourism,” Jackson told the Senate. “And it promotes jobs.”
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