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Candidate B, Column 1: Alcohol sales

7:29 am February 26, 2009, by cwarmbold

By Candidate B

This may be the year the Georgia General Assembly finally overturns the antiquated Sunday alcohol sales ban that has been an annoyance to so many Georgians for decades. Just as retail stores began opening their doors on Sundays as “blue laws” were relaxed, the time has come for the Sunday alcohol sales ban to go away too.

I think I speak for many Georgians when I say that it is puzzling why our elected officials would continue to restrict the actions of consenting adults engaged in a legal endeavor on one day of the week. Just as I respect the choice of the individuals who would not purchase alcoholic beverages on Sunday, I expect them to not interfere with my choice to purchase any legal product whenever I choose.

It is time the Republicans we have entrusted with the entire state government get back to their Jeffersonian roots and stand up for limited government and individual liberties, and a good place to start is with this legislation. Bring an end to restricting adults from engaging in the exchange of a legal product, simply to appeal to one constituency. We already have one gubernatorial candidate coming out to pander to the minority of the population who still want to force their views of morality on the rest of us. A word of advice: that may serve you well in the primary, but probably won’t speak to the electorate at large, much less the almost 70 percent of Georgians who support repealing this law.

Practically, passing this legislation would be a good thing for the state. We are currently looking down the barrel of a more than $2 billion budget shortfall that will have to be worked out one way or another. Data shows that states that have abandoned Sunday alcohol sales bans see a sales increase of about 5 percent to 8 percent. While we are finding out alcohol sales aren’t as “recession proof” as once deemed, the fact remains that alcohol sales fare much better than other industries during economic downturns. The state currently brings in about $170 million in tax dollars related to the sale of alcohol; just a 5 percent increase would result in a whopping $8.5 million more for state coffers.

It also seems in our overly politically correct culture, someone would have protested this law long ago, simply because it does not acknowledge the fact that there are people of other faiths living in our community who celebrate the Sabbath on a different day of the week. Legislators would scoff at the idea of restricting sales on a Saturday out of respect to the Sabbath of Seventh Day Adventists, yet Sundays remain off-limits. Perhaps we should respect an individual’s right to engage in free commerce every day of the week, while allowing them to choose how they celebrate their sacrosanct days. And, isn’t it a bizarre law that creates allies between devout Christians and the bar and restaurant industry?

Gov. Sonny Perdue freed the grapes last year. I hope he will sign this legislation, too, if it is passed by the Legislature.