INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time, both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly have passed legislation that would allow Sunday carryout alcohol sales.

The House voted 87-10 to approve the measure Tuesday. It is identical to legislation the Senate passed a day earlier, making repeal of the Prohibition-era ban highly likely.

Still, it’s not a done deal quite yet.

Both bills now head to the opposite chamber, where lawmakers could make changes or vote the measures down. But those scenarios seem unlikely given that both chambers already have approved the same language.

“The Sunday sales debate has gone on for years, and it’s great to finally see it advance out of the House and to the Senate,” said Rep. Ben Smaltz, the Auburn Republican who carried the measure. “I remain cautiously optimistic about its future.”   

Ultimately, lawmakers will likely choose just one of the two bills to send to Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has said he supports updating the state’s alcohol laws.

Both measures — Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1051 — would allow alcohol sales at grocery, convenience, drug and liquor stores from noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays.

Those hours are more limited than during the rest of the week and are intended to ensure that liquor stores, which are now closed on Sundays, will only have to add one additional shift, according to legislative leaders.

Efforts to expand those hours failed in both chambers.

The Sunday sales measures passed only after a Senate panel last week knocked down another popular alcohol reform: the expansion of cold beer sales to convenience and grocery stores. Now, carryout cold beer is almost exclusively the domain of the state’s small but powerful liquor store industry.

Source: IndyStar