Fresh Loaf

Dominey can't get teetotalers to relax their death grip on state lawmakers

Welcome to CL’s annual catalog of impotence: the 11 Least Influential. You’ll meet folks who tried to achieve an ambitious goal, but fell short; people who’ve devoted themselves to a personal mission in near-total obscurity; and ordinary Joes who can’t get anyone to pay attention to them. Every day until the full issue hits the streets on Nov. 11, we’ll bring you a new story of failure — some noble and heroic, others abject and pathetic.

Subject: Todd Dominey
Failing: Can’t convince lawmakers to overthrow Sunday blue laws

Just think: Waking up on a day like today and craving some bubbly — and then sipping mimosas on your couch. Heading home from church and picking up a sixer of high-gravity beer. Sipping on newly purchased brandy while making a cake for your Sunday book club. All these freedoms could be yours — if you lived in a different state.

For 10 years, Virgina-Highland resident Todd Dominey, a 38-year-old software developer and Atlanta native, took a detour from his birthplace to live in Charleston, S.C. While he was there, the Palmetto State changed its state law to allow people to buy alcohol in stores on Sunday, ending decades of frustration for residents and tourists alike. When friends back home would rib Dominey about living in the sleepy state, he’d remind them that South Carolina was progressive enough to repeal the Sunday sales statute. Argument won.

Dominey lost a little freedom when he moved back to Atlanta. He learned to live with the ridiculous law that forbids liquor from being sold in stores — but not bars — on the Sabbath. Then a friend tweeted him a link to a 50,000-signature online petition seeking to overturn the ban on Sunday booze sales. Dominey added his name with the all-caps message “REPEAL THIS ARCHAIC LAW.”

So far, no luck.

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With roughly four months until Georgia lawmakers return to the Gold Dome to wreak havoc upon our pristine and precious state, thirsty residents and fans of freedom are moving forward with a petition to convince Gov. Sonny Perdue to finally do away with its ridiculous laws prohibiting the purchase of alcohol in stores on Sundays.

The petition, which was started by Twitter user AtlantaBeer, very plainly states:

Georgia law prevents retail sales of beer on Sundays despite the will of the people. Why does Gov Perdue block every attempt to change this law?

Good question. We’ve always heard state lawmakers are hesitant to push for an end to Sunday Sales because Perdue’s made clear he’d veto the bill. Also, next legislative session is during an election year. Lawmakers are big on red-meat issues when they’re up for re-election — think “guns, gays, and God” — and tend to shy away from measures that could change the status quo.

That doesn’t mean you can’t join in the fun. Here’s the petition website.

After the jump, the map of people ACROSS THE COUNTRY who think Georgians deserve the right to booze on the Sabbath. It’s the dawn of a new day, suckas!

(H/T to everyone in Georgia who uses Twitter)

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Amount, in percentage, total taxes and other revenues decreased in March 2009 compared to March 2008: 14.5

Amount, in percentage, individual income tax revenue declined in March 2009 compared to March 2008: 18.8

Amount, in percentage, sales tax revenue declined in March 2009 compared to March 2008: 5.9

Amount, in percentage, gas tax revenue declined in March 2009 compared to March 2008: 28.6

Amount, in percentage, alcoholic beverage tax revenue increased as of March 2009: 8

Estimated amount of money, in sales tax, Sunday beer and wine sales could generate: $3.3 million

Number of states other than Georgia that ban alcohol sales in stores on Sunday: 2

Number of times in the last three years state lawmakers have tried to pass a bill allowing Sunday sales: 3

Percentage of Georgians in a 2008 poll who support Sunday sales: 65

Sources: ajc.com, Georgia Department of Revenue, AJC/Mason Dixon poll

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That lovable gnome of a legislator, state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, has finally decided which statewide office he’ll pursue in 2010. We’d heard last week that he was considering the attorney general’s post after current AG Thurbert Baker announced he would run for governor, but Harp has now told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that he’ll shoot for insurance commissioner.

“I want to make sure the people of Georgia are protected from unscrupulous companies and I want to make sure the good companies are also protected,” Harp said.

Harp has been one of our favorite state lawmakers because he rarely seems to give much thought to partisan point-scoring. During the just-ended 2009 General Assembly, for instance, he fearlessly advocated for Sunday alcohol sales while his GOP colleagues were hiding in the bathroom, getting lost on the way to committee meetings and finding any excuse to avoid voting on the issue. His efforts earned him a coveted Arnie Award this year.

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On Monday, state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, tried to revive a bill that would allow cities and counties to vote whether they wanted to purchase alcohol in stores on Sundays. It was shot down.

Courtesy of the Senate Press Office, here’s video of the lawmaker’s valiant effort. UPDATE: Well, the freedom haters are sabotaging my attempts to embed the video. Here’s the link. UPDATE, PART II: Thanks to the excellent Michael in the Senate Press Office, we have video! Get ready to shed a tear.

Harp told lawmakers that a poll taken in one of Georgia’s most religious counties found more than 60 percent of respondents supported Sunday sales. In metro Atlanta, he said, support for the measure was more than 90 percent — a statistic which I think is hilarious.

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The 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?

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Jim Galloway reports state Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, was contacted by constituents early Sunday morning about the slow-moving bill that would allow cities and counties to decide whether stores could sell alcohol on the Sabbath.

Shafer said a half-dozen slurred messages were left on his office voice mail at 1, 2 and 3 a.m. Sunday. “They were clearly on the cell phone in the beer aisle, drunk and unable to buy beer, and angry with me,” the senator said.

Shafer says the phone number to his Gold Dome office was listed on fliers placed in the booze aisle of a Wal-Mart, Galloway reports. The distinguished gentleman from Gwinnett County — who’s also a 2010 lieutenant governor candidate — chairs the committee that will discuss the legislation tomorrow.

The editorial employees of CL urge all Georgians to get involved with local politics and speak out on issues near to their hearts. Especially when those issues involve not allowing people to purchase alcohol in stores on Sundays. Sounds like Socialism to me!

Should you ever want to talk to Shafer about life, love, baseball or giving cities and counties more local control, you can always reach him at

(Courtesy ICanHasCheezburger)

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State Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, had disappointing news just now for a Capitol committee room packed with Spuds McKenzies and partypoopers: For a variety of reasons, the number of lawmakers needed for a quorum could not be rounded up, and a much-anticipated hearing about Sunday alcohol sales would have to be postponed. Carry on.

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1. Our complete Oscar predictions, even ‘Documentary Short’ (It undoubtedly was Fresh Loaf’s gusto for “The Conscience of Nhem En’s” that pushed this blog post over the top.)

2. Upcoming AJC cuts to be ’substantial’ (Tragic and unfair, but not really a surprise.)

3. The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ episode 6 (What happened Ben? What happened to Aaron? What happened to Kate’s unconvincing attempt to abide by the law?)

4. Georgia has the Bible Belt blues (The Christian Coaltion relied on teetotaling teenagers to threaten our chance to buy beer on Sundays. Meanies.)

5. Madea Goes to Jail, locks out critics (Tyler Perry is predictably cagey about his newest project.)

(Photo by Ishika Mohan)

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Never on a Sunday

This afternoon, I shuttled between two depressing committee meetings at the State Capitol — one in which a GOP lawmaker browbeat state university professors for having nationally recognized expertise in the field of sexual behavior and another for which the Christian Coalition had bused in dozens of fresh-scrubbed teens to testify against their elders being allowed to buy a six-pack on Sunday.

“The Bible says alcohol is wrong,” declared one young lady.

One of the boys took a more pragmatic stance, asking, “The state might get a few more million dollars, but at what cost of the blood of people who crash and die?”

What cost indeed. Of course, the bill by Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, had its supporters. Kroger is for it. So is the convenience store industry and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, whose representative framed the issue as one of “basic economic fairness,” since restaurants, stadiums and performance venues are currently allowed to serve booze on Sundays.

Harp himself told a heart-breaking story about soldiers from Fort Benning who were reunited with loved ones just before shipping out overseas, but because it was a Sunday, they were unable to properly party down. Well, maybe it was just me who was left quietly sobbing.

Anyway, the bill wouldn’t automatically allow Sunday sales. Instead, it would permit cities and counties to let voters decide. There are some cities in Georgia now that are completely dry on Sunday, restaurants included (I’m looking at you, Snellville). This bill wouldn’t change that, unless those places wanted to enter the 21st century.

The committee won’t vote on the bill until next week.

Attending both meetings, I was reminded of a favorite saying of a certain left-leaning legislator: “If Georgia didn’t have Atlanta, it would be Alabama.”

Except that in Alabama, you can buy beer on Sunday.

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CL’s Chanté LaGon and Thomas Wheatley discuss our current $2 billion shortfall and why Gov. Sonny Perdue says Georgia will start having to do “less with less.”

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Yellow nails? She must be a smoker!

Amount Georgia lawmakers want to raise the price of cigarettes to offset a $2.4 billion deficit: $1

Georgia’s current tax on cigarettes: 39 cents

Nation’s average cigarette tax: $1.19

Estimated revenue the proposed cigarette tax would generate for the state: $350 million

Estimated tax revenue that would be raised if Sunday alcohol sales were allowed: $4.8 million

Number of signatures on an online petition calling for alcohol to be sold in stores on the Sabbath: 52,070

Dollar amount of a proposed “pole tax” that state lawmakers want strip club patrons to pay at the door: $5

Price of admission after 10 p.m. on a regular night at the Cheetah: $10

Minimum estimated revenue that could be generated if casinos were built in Atlanta and along the Georgia coast: $600 million

Sources: AJC, Associated Press, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, PetitionOnline.com, TheCheetah.com, 11Alive.com

(Photo courtesy of Photos.com)

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In 5,000 years, when a humanoid alien race sifts through the wasteland we ultimately created here on Earth, they will reach into the rubble of what once was the Georgia Capitol and find one piece of paper that, despite the ravages of time and the post-apocalyptic elements, will be preserved. It will be unripped. It will shine from under ash. It will have been the finest moment in this edifice’s history.

It will read:

Eureka! On Monday, state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland — along with three co-sponsors — pre-filed a bill that, if passed and signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, would allow Georgia cities and counties to vote whether alcohol could be sold on the Sabbath inside their boundaries.

If you’ve long wanted to purchase booze on Sunday — be it for cooking, sporting events or to self-medicate — this is the bill you want to watch. And if you’ve ever just wanted to have a voice in the issue, it’s that too. Andre at Peach Pundit writes more on the possible political dynamics.

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As my esteemed colleague, Thomas Wheatley informs us, the Georgia Legislature is about to take up the issue of alcohol Sunday sales, one more sobering time. Fitting, then, that we do a round of polling just for the sake of informing ourselves until we pass out.

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In the long-ago days of my youth, I thought the two safest investments during a terrible economic time would be booze and newspapers. Everyone wanted to find a job (classifieds!) and everyone wanted to numb the pain when they couldn’t find one (Booze!). Turns out I was half right — the newspapers are hurting, but alcohol is doing great!

And state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, says he’s got an idea to help get the state out of the red and its citizens closer to rehab. The lawmaker told the Associated Press yesterday he will re-introduce legislation that would allow Georgians to buy spirits on the Sabbath and the state to earn some extra tax revenue on the spirits.

Which means it’s time for more political theater.

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GOING INTO LABOR: Delta flight attendants to vote on unionization.

ROAD TO HELL: Will be repaved with good intentions every weekend for the next eight months.

HOLDS WATER? Carol Couch stumps for state water plan at Ga. Tech.

DROUGHT: Downgraded from “exceptional” to “extreme,” skipping over “badass.”

DOGFIGHTING: Austell ring broken up.

MICHAEL VICK: State dogfighting trial postponed until June 27.

WIND OUT OF OUR SALES: Legislators are predicting the bill that would allow communities to vote on whether they want to allow Sunday alcohol sales won’t make it to the House floor for a vote.

SINISTER MINISTER: Habersham County reverend busted for allegedly having nine sexually explicit online chats with undercover cop posing as 14-year-old girl. (And I swear I won’t harp on this anymore, but AccessNorthGa.com has yet another insightful news graphic.)

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SONNY DISPOSITION: Gov. Perdue is “very concerned” that legislators want to let Georgia communities vote on allowing Sunday alcohol sales: “The people of Georgia send us here to make decisions.” Even if the people of Georgia disagree with those decisions.

DELAY OF GAME: Atlanta-based startup All-American Football League postpones inaugural season to 2009.

NORREESE HAYNES: Battling various outrages.

GETTING OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT: Foot licker causes ordeal in Cordele.

MOUSEHUNT: Flight to Atlanta grounded for hours due to mouse on board.

CITY BUDGET: Now the shortfall is $65 million, according to city CFO; layoffs “likely.”

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