INDIANAPOLIS — Solid majorities of Hoosiers support expanding both cold beer and Sunday alcohol sales, according to a new poll.

Some 61 percent of Hoosiers favor expanding cold beer sales and 58 percent favor Sunday carryout sales, according to the Old National Bank/Ball State University 2017 Hoosier Survey.

The poll of 600 Hoosiers, conducted in early October, found the margin of support for expanding alcohol sales widened from 2014, when similar questions were asked. For cold beer, support was 30 percentage points greater than opposition; for Sunday sales, it was 28 points higher.

“Obviously it shows that there is a lot of support for this type of change,” said Sean Hillebrand, assistant professor of political science at Ball State and a survey analyst for the Bowen Center for Public Affairs, which conducted the poll. “They definitely do want to have more availability to purchase not only cold beer but all seven days of the week.”

The results, provided to IndyStar, come as a legislative commission is considering whether to recommend changes to Indiana’s alcohol laws. Currently, the sale of cold beer for carryout is limited mostly to package liquor stores. Sunday alcohol sales for carryout are prohibited outside breweries, wineries and distilleries.

The question is whether public opinion carries more weight than powerful interests, led by the state’s liquor store industry, which has successfully lobbied the Indiana General Assembly to block cold beer expansion and thwart wider Sunday alcohol sales.

Groups lobbying for change hailed the results as another indicator of the public’s thirst for change.

The survey found that 58 percent of Hoosiers support Sunday sales, while only 36 percent oppose it. That 22-point gap is wider than the 20-point gap from 2014. The poll has a margin of error of 5.3 percentage points.

Source: IndyStar