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Last updated on Thursday, February 7, 2013
(STATEHOUSE) - Legislators won’t vote until next week on a proposal to allow alcohol sales on Sunday.
The House Public Policy Committee heard three hours of testimony from liquor store owners arguing big-box supermarkets would put them out of business if they can sell on Sundays, and from supermarkets and their allies arguing both they and the state are losing millions of dollars in revenue for no good purpose.
Liquor stores joined forces with groups who oppose loosening access to alcohol. The stores argue the reason they exist in the first place is to create an age-restricted environment where underage drinking laws are easier to enforce.
The bill would allow Sunday liquor sales at gas stations and convenience stores too.
Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores Association executive director Scott Imus says liquor stores should face competition the same way his members did when supermarkets started installing gas pumps: by improving customer service and making an effort to stock items customers want.
Committee Chairman Bill Davis (R-Portland) left open whether he'd call for a vote when the committee reconvenes next Wednesday. That meeting is the committee's last scheduled hearing before the deadline to send bills to the full House.
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