Georgia state legislators, it would seem, have enough on their agenda. Before the current legislative year concludes, they will have to balance the state budget, sort out additional economic concerns, and deal with an increasingly fragile education system, including the fiscal viability of the HOPE scholarships. They’ll also have to address pressing water, transportation, immigration and tax issues. To that daunting list, legislators now must add a sure-to-be divisive proposal that would allow Sunday alcohol sales.
It’s not the first time such legislation has been proposed, but it is the first that seasoned political observers believe has a chance of passage. That’s a change. The last time a similar bill was introduced, both those in favor of it and those opposed to it knew that passage meant little. Then Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Christian conservative and nondrinker, made it clear that he would veto any legislation approving Sunday sales that reached his desk.
That threat no longer applies. Gov. Nathan Deal has said that if a bill permitting such sales reached him, he would sign it — as long as it permitted local communities to vote on the issue. That’s a reasonable stance. The ballot is the way to make a decision about Sunday alcohol sales.
Discussion of the proposal, in legislative halls or elsewhere, is unlikely to promote consensus. Debate about alcohol and the sale of it usually centers more on the morality of the issue than the worthiness of legislation related to it. Those in favor say additional sales will boost state revenues. Opponents say that moral health and the possibility of more drunk drivers on the road, not money, should drive the debate. Neither side is likely to concede.
Surveys indicate that drunken driving rates are likely to remain much the same if Sunday sales are allowed. That’s because Georgia residents who want to drink on Sunday stock up when stores are allowed to sell spirits, or they drive to a nearby state where such sales are permissible.
Georgians should be allowed to vote their conscience on an issue as controversial and emotional as alcohol sales on Sunday. Individuals opposed to such sales can vote nay, but should not be permitted to force their views or impose their will on those who might have a a different opinion without a vote. That’s the democratic way — a point made by Gov. Deal on Tuesday.
Legislators need not take long to debate the proposal to allow alcohol sales on Sunday. After appropriate vetting, they should approve a bill that allows sales with a provision that requires a vote at the local level. Then they should move on to the more pressing issues that currently confront the state.