Sunday alcohol sales hearing Wed. at Statehouse

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The battle over Sunday alcohol sales heats up again Wednesday at the Indiana Statehouse.

This battle has been going on for years, leaving Indiana the only state in the country that bans Sunday carry-out sales.

At a scheduled 8:30 a.m. hearing Wednesday, both sides will make their case.

Two bills are on the table that would lift the Sunday sales ban.

Those in favor of Sunday sales say it makes no sense that folks can't buy alcohol in a store and take it home to drink on a Sunday; but folks can buy alcohol in a bar or restaurant and get in a car and drive home.

“Sunday is the second busiest shopping day of the week,” Grant Monahan with the Indiana Retail Council said. “People want to do all of their shopping at one time. They want the convenience of that.”

Proponents say Indiana should encourage competition.  

Those against Sunday sales include many liquor store owners who worry about being put out of business.

They say they'd have to pay employees to stay open Sunday. They also claim it’s hard to compete with grocery and convenience stores that are already open.

“We would become one of five or six states in the country which would have the most liberal alcohol laws, and we know that's not what Hooiser voters want,” John Livengood with the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers said.

Similar legislation has failed to pass the last few years in Indiana.