Maureen Rogers looks at wine Wednesday at Costco.ATLANTA – The hot topic of Sunday alcohol sales in Georgia is headed to the Senate floor after a proposal to let local voters decide the matter breezed through committee Wednesday.
Religious groups consistently oppose the idea and former Gov. Sonny Perdue vowed to veto any law allowing it. But none of the 11 speakers who addressed the committee opposed the idea, all agreeing that communities should make their own choices, not the state.
“Let the people in those areas vote,” said Sen. Jim Bulloch, sponsor of Senate Bill 10. “(This bill) is about local control.”
Georgia is one of only three states that still forbids stores from selling alcohol on the Sabbath. If approved, the proposal would let voters decide in local referendums whether they want the sales between 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. The issue could be before voters as soon as this fall.
Democratic Sen. Donzella James of Atlanta told the committee that her husband owned a liquor store for nearly 30 years, but that the family sold it after her son was killed by a drunken driver, making the choice a difficult one for her.