By JOE MELILLO
At the Statehouse, both the House and Senate currently have bills that deal with both cold beer sales and Sunday alcohol sales.
A House committee met at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to vote on a bill allowing Sunday sales of alcohol. The bill later passed in a 12-1 vote.
A similar bill passed a Senate committee last week.
Republican leaders in both chambers have expressed support for allowing sales of alcohol at stores on Sunday between noon and 8 p.m., beginning July 1.
Another issue is whether to allow grocery and convenience stores to sell cold beer. A Senate committee will debate that idea Wednesday afternoon, Senate Bill 26. It would expand the sale of cold beer beyond just liquor stores. Currently, grocery and convenience stores can only sell warm beer.
Jay Ricker, the chairman of Ricker’s, Inc., released the following statement about Wednesday’s hearings:
“We would like the Legislature to amend SB26 to provide a level playing field for liquor stores and convenience stores to sell cold beer. To that end, we fully expect to pay an increased fee for the privilege of selling cold beer and for this fee to be designated by the Legislature to compensate ‘mom and pop’ liquor store owners who believe their licenses will be devalued.”