Georgia Legislature: Sunday Sales of Alcohol

In Georgia you can buy a beer on Sunday at a restaurant¹, but not at a store. Senate Bill 10 of the 2011 legislative session may fix that. The word is that this year, this bill has a good chance of becoming law.

Of course, I say “fix that” but what I really mean is that the legislature is doing a time honored pass-the-buck tradition. Instead of a blanket opening of the door to Sunday Sales of alcohol, they’ve submitted a bill to let local counties and municipalities opt, by referendum, after an appropriate resolution or ordinance is passed, to allow it.

[sigh]

I would have preferred if they ditched the prohibition entirely and allowed local municipalities or counties to opt back in.

Still, it’s a step in the right direction, in my opinion. The marriage of Republicans with their “personal responsibility” mantra and Baptists with their “Death to Alcohol” craze has always been a weird one, to me.

This Senate bill would allow Sunday sales of package store alcohol after 12:30 PM on Sundays. So, you still can’t get up in the morning and go get some Johnny Walker. I suppose that’s because the various church goers don’t want to miss the rush.

Here’s a link to the Senate bill
Here’s a link to the existing code, which is complicated: GA Code Annotated. You’ll have to go through the menus to Section 3-3-7 and 3-3-20.

¹: But not everywhere