INDIANAPOLIS -- The Minnesota House and Senate voted over the past week to end the state's ban on Sunday liquor sales – even as a similar proposal died once again in Indiana.
Indiana remains the only state in the nation the bans beer, wine and liquor carryout sales on Sundays (although the legislature has allowed exemptions for the state's microbreweries and meaderies).
If the Minnesota bill – right now there's a House and Senate version that need to be reconciled – is signed by Gov. Mark Dayton, it would bring the number of states with outright bans on Sunday liquor sales down to 11.
TWITTER SURVEY: #Minnesota is on the cusp of rescinding its ban on Sunday #liquor sales. Is it time for #Indiana to follow suit?
— Jordan Fischer (@Jordan_RTV6) February 28, 2017
Several Indiana lawmakers proposed bills this year that also would have removed the Hoosier state from that list.
In the House, Rep. Sean Eberhart (R-Shelbyville) authored HB 1433, which would have allowed Sunday carryout sales of alcoholic beverages by all retailers and dealers. Eberhart's bill would have required retailers (other than package liquor stores) to display alcoholic beverages in a separate area that minors could only enter with adult supervision.
In the Senate, Sen. Philip Boots (R-Crawfordsville) authored SB 83, which would have created a supplemental dealer's permit for Sunday sales of carryout alcoholic beverages. The bill would have allowed package liquor stores to sell carryout on Sunday without a supplemental permit.
While Sunday alcohol sales has become a perennial subject of debate in Indiana, it has begun showing signs of inching forward in recent years.
In 2015, a bill sponsored by Rep. Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte) nearly reached a final vote in the House – the first time the state's 80-year-old ban on Sunday alcohol sales had ever made it that far.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) said last week the issue would again have to wait at least another year in Indiana.
