Georgia Legislative Watch

The Georgia Senate barely passed Senate Bill 454, a bill that would permit the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday in “public stadium, coliseums, and auditoriums,” on a vote of 30 “yeas” to 20 “nays.” Twenty-nine votes were needed to pass the legislation.

Gwinnett state Sen. Renee Unterman, the chief sponsor of the legislation, described S.B.454 as a “simple bill” that only changed two words. Georgia law currently allows only cities that have previously approved Sunday alcohol sales to pass an ordinance permitting the sale of alcohol in “public stadiums, coliseums, and auditoriums owned or controlled by it or by a public authority and having seating capacity in excess of 2,500 people on Sunday between the hours of 12:30 P.M. and midnight.” Senate Bill 454 would extend that privilege to counties.

“Baseball, beer, and peanuts are as American as apple pie,” Sen. Unterman said.

The measure is in response to the recent announcement that the Richmond Braves would be moving to Gwinnett County in 2009.

Prior to the close vote, Sen. Seth Harp said a vote for the bill was a vote in favor of expanding Sunday alcohol sales and also spoke positively of the effort to allow local cities and counties to decide, by referendum, whether to allow the purchase of alcohol on Sunday.

“The website [Vote Sunday Sales.com], as of this morning, has 40,000 signatures,” Sen. Harp told his colleagues. The Midland Republican said the sale of alcohol on Sunday should be something that each individual community should choose.