Today’s Fight against Prohibition in Indiana: Liquor Sales on Sunday

In a recurring theme from last session, there is a major push to allow for liquor sales on Sundays and also for stores with liquor licenses to be able to sell cold beer.

Yesterday, the  Indy Star said,

Indiana is one of only three states that allows restaurants, bars and sporting venues to sell alcohol on Sundays while prohibiting retailers from doing so. And Indiana is the only state that regulates the temperature at which beer can be sold, letting only liquor stores but not groceries or convenience marts sell cold beer. 

The Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers has fought these changes the past few rounds on this fight arguing that liquor stores will go out of business if forced to be open on Sundays and to compete with grocers. 

We’ve been to plenty of other states where they sell cold beer every day of the week at gas stations and there were still plenty of liquor stores.  But this isn’t just about the fact that we want to be able to buy beer on Sunday for our Colts tailgate…at least not entirely. 

The coalition claims Indiana loses an estimated $9 million annually in sales and excise tax revenues from people who drive to neighboring states on Sunday to make package liquor, beer and wine purchases. Plus, the liquor stores lose $129 million in sales.

This law is completely archaic and we should change it.  Unfortunately, the Beverage Retailers are a powerful lobby and this is unlikely to change without a lot of work. 

Join the cause and get involved at http://www.changeitindiana.org.