by Alex Fitzsimmons
Although state alcohol laws vary widely, lawmakers are steadily coalescing around the notion that selling alcohol on Sundays might not be such a bad idea.
Thirteen states restrict Sunday sales, but only Connecticut and Indiana ban selling all alcohol, including beer and wine, on Sundays. But if lawmakers in Connecticut have their way, the so-called blue law policy, a relic of the Prohibition era, could soon be no more.
Lawmakers from the Nutmeg State hope repealing the ban on Sunday sales will help kick start their state’s economy. Governor Dan Malloy claims that Connecticut wine and liquor retailers could be losing $570 million in sales each year to neighboring states.
But some small liquor retailers oppose the bill as a threat to their very existence. They claim that labor and electricity costs associated with opening on Sundays would outweigh potential sales. Small retailers also see HB 6264 as a slippery slope to allowing supermarket sales, which they argue would compromise customer service.
Since 2002, fifteen states have repealed bans on Sunday sales: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington. Georgia is the most recent state to loosen its alcohol laws, passing local control just last year.
Time will tell if Connecticut follows suit.
Alex Fitzsimmons is an intern for the public affairs division in NCSL's Washington, D.C. office.
The photo of Enoch "Nucky" Thompson from HBO's Boardwalk Empire, set at the dawn of prohibition, is courtsey of What Culture
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