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ATLANTA — Religious leaders waging a holy battle against Sunday alcohol sales and businessmen pushing for more consumer choice will find out this week how successful their efforts will be.

A nearly two-year fight over whether to allow packaged alcohol to be sold by grocery, convenience and liquor stores could come to a head on the House floor, though it could just as easily end with a whimper.

Business leaders, sensing they might be close to a victory, are pressing lawmakers to bring to a vote a measure allowing countywide referendums on those sales.

"It's a matter of economic fairness, competition," said Joe Fleming, a lobbyist for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. "It's what voters want."

But religious leaders, some liquor store owners and Gov. Sonny Perdue are all pushing back, warning that putting liquor up for sale seven days a week could send alcohol-related fatalities skyrocketing and increasing other social ills associated with spirits.

"We've got enough alcohol in our society. It's time for us to restrict it," The Rev. Tom Rush, pastor of First Baptist Church of Social Circle, told lawmakers in a recent hearing on Sunday sales.

"If we sell more alcohol, more people are going to die."

Local issue goes haywire

The legislation at the center of the controversy, Senate Bill 454, seemed simple enough to start out with. The Richmond Braves, a minor-league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, decided to move from their Virginia home to suburban Gwinnett County.

Wanting to clear up some confusion in the law about whether stadiums in unincorporated areas could sell alcohol, civic leaders asked Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, to introduce legislation.

Her bill sailed through the Senate and into the House Regulated Industries Committee, which tacked on an amendment allowing voters to authorize the sale of packaged alcohol from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Sundays, as long as restaurants and bars were allowed to sell the same kinds of spirits under current county law.

Committee Chairman Roger Williams, R-Dalton, who sponsored the amendment, saw the mix as a logical blend; as long as lawmakers were allowing a stadium to sell alcohol on Sunday, why not extend the same courtesy to a nearby grocery store.

"What is fair about allowing one and not the other when we're talking about the sale of the same product?" Williams asked.

Unterman was furious, saying her bill had been hijacked and was caught in a battle between "two gigantic tigers."

The amended bill passed the panel unanimously.

Business leaders pleased

The amendment was a victory for business groups, particularly those representing grocery and convenience stores, which have lobbied hard to be allowed to offer spirits on the Sabbath.

"There's no debate that our customers would prefer the option to purchase beer and wine seven days of the week," said Horace Hamilton, vice president of operations for the Georgia division of Kroger.

Hamilton and others argued that customers are confused by the law. Plus, they say it can particularly harm retailers in cities like Augusta and Savannah, which sit next to states that allow at least some Sunday sales.

"In our border towns and cities, this puts Georgia retailers at a disadvantage," Hamilton said.

Opposition rising

But opposition to Sunday alcohol sales has come from some expected sources, like clergy, and some that seem out of place, like liquor store owners.

For religious leaders, the issue is one of cutting back on a substance that can cause not just spiritual harm but damage to bodies caught in accidents caused by people driving under the influence.

"We have plenty of alcohol," said The Rev. Michael Griffin, senior pastor at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell. "The bottom line we have to ask with alcohol legislation is do we want more?"

The answer to those leaders and Perdue is clearly "no." Perdue took the unusual step last week of distributing an opinion piece blasting the proposal to media across the state.

"The Republican principle of individual freedom is just as important to me as it is to my colleagues in the legislature, but so is the principle of protecting innocent Georgians," Perdue wrote. "If you have ever comforted the parents or grandparents of a young person lost in a DUI crash, then you know that the cost of this proposal is too great and the damage it stands to inflict is too heavy a burden for innocent families to bear."

Perdue's press secretary said the column was not a veto threat.

And Richard Tucker, owner of Beverage SuperStore in Suwanee, is among liquor store owners who have spoken out against the measure. He said liquor store owners, often small businessmen, need a day off like everyone else. And those businessmen, who live in the communities where their stores are located, are more careful about screening who buys their products.

"We take pride in make sure we're selling it to sober, responsible adults," he said.

Tucker also suggested the voters of the state might not want Sunday sales as much as business interests have argued.

"I personally believe that the people in this conservative state and these conservative communities appreciate a day where there is no alcohol," he said.

That, some businessmen say, is why the bill should be passed. Not only do voters get to decide, Fleming said he expects only counties like Fulton, Muscogee and some border communities would go to Sunday sales immediately.

"I would expect if this passes, very few counties initially would take advantage of it," he said.

Critical week

Those arguments could come to a head soon.

At times, the House GOP leadership has seemed divided over whether to bring Sunday sales to a vote. Majority Leader Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons Island, had maintained earlier in the session that the House would wait to see what the Senate did.

Earlier this month, Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, said he would push the bill to the floor.

Now, both Keen and Richardson are being more cautious. The speaker's press secretary said a final decision would be made this week. Williams said House Republicans are still trying to figure out how the vote would break down.

The session is expected to end Friday.

Meanwhile, Unterman has said she won't ask her colleagues to take up the House version of her proposal with its statewide Sunday sales amendment.

"The Senate has pretty much sent a consensus to me, a majority, that they don't want to vote on it," she said.

Whether lawmakers believe the people of Georgia want to vote on it could help decide how much objections by Unterman and others matter.

Brandon Larrabee can be reached at brandon.larrabee@morris.com or 678-977-3709.

SELLING MORE ALCOHOL

Several bills have been proposed over the last two years dealing with alcohol sales. A look at some of them.

House Bills 468, 1356: Would permit cities and counties to hold referendums to allow the sale of some packaged alcoholic beverages on Sunday. Bills are considered dead because they missed a legislative deadline.

Senate Bills 26, 137, 138: Would permit cities and counties to hold referendums to allow the sale of some packaged alcoholic beverages on Sunday. Have been in the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee since last year, and are considered dead because they missed a legislative deadline.

Senate Bill 385: Allows limousine drivers to sell alcoholic beverages to passengers. Passed the House and Senate.

Senate Bill 454: Originally allowed stadiums in unincorporated areas to offer alcohol. Was amended by House committee to allow cities and counties to hold referendums on the sale of some packaged alcoholic beverages on Sunday. Retailers could only offer those beverages that can be sold on Sunday by restaurants and bars in the same county.