Georgia Sunday Sales bill dies – UPDATED
March 4, 2009 at 4:58 pm by Thomas Wheatley in NewsThe AJC’s James Salzer reports state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, has withdrawn the bill that would allow cities and counties to decide if they wanted stores to be able to sell booze on the Sabbath. He says it didn’t have enough votes to pass:
Sober like us: Shafer & Sonny
The committee was supposed to vote on the bill Wednesday, but supporters knew by the time the meeting began that they wouldn’t have enough votes to pass it.
It marked the third consecutive year the bill to allow Sunday sales has stalled in the Senate.
Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland), said he would bring the bill back up in the future and supporters hinted they would make it a campaign issue next year.
Welcome to Georgia, where nothing ever happens.
(Update by Scott Henry):
There’s a rumor floating around that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, R-Gainesville, was involved in getting the bill killed. Harp isn’t buying it. He says Cagle “told me personally” that he favored the bill getting a floor vote. And if SB 16 had reached the floor, Harp is confident it would’ve passed.
Who was the real villain, then?
Harp hints that it was none other than the chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, David Shafer, R-Duluth, who’s a declared candidate for lieutenant governor. Harp says he withdrew his bill once he realized he didn’t have enough votes to pass it out of committee.
Harp won’t say who else opposed the measure, but other committee members we talked to indicate that the nay-sayers may have included Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, R-Sharpsburg and Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams, R-Lyons. But since they never had to go on record, we’ll never know for certain.
Apparently, the Sunday Sales bill was lost when one of its supporters, Sen. Ed Harbison, D-Columbus, was forced to miss Wednesday’s committee meeting for family reasons.
The irony is that Shafer spent the latter half of 2008 collecting thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from such groups as the Eagle Rock Distributing Co., Miller Beer, the Georgia Beer Wholesalers Assoc., and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Georgia. And although he didn’t deliver the goods, Shafer has plausible deniability when it comes to the bill’s failure.
Finally, it should be noted that the Sunday Sales bill isn’t dead – it’s only sleeping. Because this is the first year of a two-session term, Harp can bring his proposal back in 2010 without even needing to reintroduce it. Until then, plan ahead for Sunday benders.
March 4th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
every single of these spinless holy-rolling cowards should hear from the public. let the people decide, already! Georgia is an embarrasment. It is obvious that these people are all up the rectum of the Christian Coalition.
March 4th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I’ve lost hope. I’m so fucking sick of stupid, overzealous religious interests ruining things for those of us in the majority. These idiots don’t grasp the language of the bill- it doesn’t mandate Sunday sales; it allows communities to make their own decision. Un-fucking-believable. Fuck the opposers, and fuck the elected officials that capitulate to them.
March 5th, 2009 at 11:13 am
@Eugene and @Wang,
It’s also the liquor store lobby. They don’t want Sunday sales because it will cut into their business.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Well for once Sadie Fields got it right. “If we follow the logic that governments need the cash and we should legalize Sunday alcohol sales, then we should also legalize and tax prostitution, illegal drugs, and gambling.” Good job Sadie!!! From all of the tax revenue Atlanta would get from taxing 1 pot farm, maybe we could stop laying off police, and maybe actually add a few so that I can walk around Midtown at night and not feel threatened that a far more dangerous criminal than some hooker is going to bash my head in with a loose brick.