The Georgia Senate defeated a measure Monday that would allow Sunday alcohol sales in bars on St. Patrick’s Day, even after senators stripped language that would have also allowed Sunday pint sales on the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day holiday weekends.
Senate Bill 318, sponsored by Sen. Lester G. Jackson, D-Savannah, would let local governments decide whether they want to allow alcohol sales on Sunday in establishments other than restaurants on St. Patrick’s Day. The bill is not dead. Supporters successfully won “reconsideration” for the bill, which now goes back to the Senate Rules Committee for further review.
The bill rivals House Bill 784, sponsored by Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah. SB 318, however, originally differed because it would have expanded that freedom to the other holiday weekends. Those provisions were stripped on the floor. St. Patrick’s Day bar sales were requested by the City Council in Savannah, which hosts one of the country’s largest St. Patrick Day parades and festivals.
Jackson said he originally expanded his bill’s reach for a simple reason: “This is actually a revenue enhancement bill.”
Current law only allows Sunday sales of alcohol for on-site consumption in restaurants — that is, places that derive a majority of their income from food sales.
Last year’s St. Patrick’s Day was on a Sunday. The holiday this year is on Monday, March 17.
HB 784 passed the House two weeks ago and since won approval from the Senate’s Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, It, too, now awaits an OK from the chamber’s Rules Committee before it would get a floor vote.
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