Rep. Tom Dermody, R-LaPorte, has introduced a bill to allow carryout sales of beer, wine and liquor between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays.
“We talked to package liquor stores, owners, retailers, anybody this bill affects,” ?Dermody said.
The move by Dermody, chairman of the Indiana House Public Policy Committee, has Sunday sales advocates energized.
“It’s huge for a committee chair to sponsor a bill,” said John Elliot, public relations spokesperson for Kroger and representative of Hoosiers for Sunday Sales, an organization that ?supports the bill.
Past bills to allow Sunday sales have been stopped by Public Policy committee chairs, ?Elliot said.
“This is the first time for discussion and voting on the legislation,” Elliot said.
Liquor, grocery and big box retail stores are all prohibited from selling alcohol on Sundays by laws dating back to Prohibition.
Matt Bell, a public affairs representative for Big Red Liquors, says the company opposes the bill but is not opposed to Sunday sales on ?principle.
“We think some limited hours are appropriate,” Bell said, but raised concerns about minors accessing alcohol in grocery and big box retail stores.
“Leave beer and wine in the grocery aisles, but not the hard liquor,” Bell said. “That’s a bill we would support.”
Bell said state law does not regulate alcohol effectively.
“If they put forward a program for where and how alcohol is sold, we would be open to talking about when,” Bell said.
Unlike package liquor stores, Jeff Mease, owner of Bloomington Brewing Company and Lennie’s, is allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays.
“We can sell beer on Sundays, and we do sell a fair bit of beer on Sundays,” Mease said.
Possessing a brewer’s permit and a restaurant permit allow BBC and Lennie’s to have in-store and carryout sales on Sundays, ?Mease said.
Mease was not worried about the possibility of the bill passing.
“It wouldn’t affect us a whole lot,” ?Mease said.
And his support for the bill?
“Personally, I go back and forth,” Mease said.
Sports venues are also permitted to sell ?alcohol on Sundays, according to state law.
“This law drives business to every neighboring state every Sunday,” Elliot said. “Tax revenue and jobs are going to other states.”
The effect of the law is most felt in border counties, Elliot said.
“This isn’t just about Sunday sales, this is about economic free market principles,” ?Elliot said.
Patrick Tamm, CEO of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, opposes the ?legislation.
“Alcohol has never been in a free market,” Tamm said. “Alcohol is in a very regulated ?environment and continues to need to be.”
The IABR represents package liquor stores, including Big Red Liquors, which are regulated under state law.
“You have to be 21 and an Indiana resident to be an owner,” Tamm said of package stores. “Who we are, what we can sell, has all been ?dictated to us.”
Tamm compared state package store regulations to those of national chains, such as Walmart and Kroger, who would be allowed to sell on Sundays if the bill passed.
“We’re at structural disadvantage right now,” Tamm said.
Package stores are required to sell only certain types of items and their clerks are required to be licensed. Big box retailers, on the other hand, do not have to follow these regulations, Tamm said.
The proposed bill would remove those regulations from package stores, allowing them to carry other items besides alcohol and ?related products.
“Consistency across regulations will be a great part of having the bill,” Rep. Dermody said.
Tamm disagreed with this portion of the bill, pointing out that the purpose of package stores is to sell ?alcohol exclusively.
“We’re not talking about milk, we’re not talking about cereal, we’re talking about alcohol,” Tamm said. “This is a product that can do a lot of harm very quickly.”
Having licensed clerks handle alcohol solely in package stores helps prevent underage drinking, Tamm said.
Elliot rejected the idea that Sunday sales would increase underage drinking and responded with criticisms of the current law.
The majority of alcohol options available to consumers on Sundays, such as restaurants and sports venues, require drinking and driving, Elliot said.
“Indiana consumers should have a safer option by passing Sunday sales,” ?Elliot said.
A majority of Indiana residents support lifting the ban, according to recent polling.
A poll by Public Opinion Strategies, a Washington D.C.-based polling organization, found 58 percent of Hoosiers support lifting the ban and 39 percent opposed.
The result was part of a larger poll commissioned by the Indiana Chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a national conservative group.
A separate November 2014 poll by Ball State University and WISH-TV found 52 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed to lifting the ban.
A date for a committee hearing on the bill will be set soon, Dermody said.
“This comes up year after year,” Dermody said. “Hoosiers want us to have this debate and I plan on having it.”
