03/02/09 Seven days of alcohol?

Could Connecticut finally be saying goodbye to dry Sundays?

With the Nutmeg State now facing an $8 billion budget deficit over the next three fiscal years, some state legislators are pushing for the repeal of an old law that bans the sale of alcohol on Sundays. The additional sales, they say, would boost business for alcohol vendors and bring in much-needed state tax revenue — an estimated $2.5 million to 5 million per year, according to Connecticut’s Office of Fiscal Analysis.

But while some struggling alcohol vendors are hoping Sunday sales could be their saving grace, others say lifting the ban would only be a burden, requiring extra operating costs not matched by revenue from an additional day of business. The debate over the ultimate profitability of Sunday sales is currently playing out among legislators in Hartford, but some thirsty Elis said they are keeping their fingers crossed for the state to finally abolish a liquor law they called inconvenient and antiquated.

THE LAST BLUE LAW

In the 1600s, Puritan colonists enacted rigid laws — later known as “blue laws” — to regulate behavior on Sundays, the Christian day of worship. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Connecticut banned Sunday alcohol sales.

Today, Connecticut is one of only three states, including Georgia and Indiana, that prohibit over-the-counter sales of beer, wine and liquor on Sundays. In Connecticut, the prohibition is in effect between 9 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. Mondays. (Restaurants, hotels, bars and similar establishments can sell alcohol to be consumed on the premises.)

For some Sunday sales proponents, doing away with the ban is a matter of overturning the state’s last blue law, which they say is not only outdated but also unconstitutional.

Bruce Nevins, the owner of WineWise in Greenwich, Conn., and a longtime advocate of Sunday alcohol sales, said the law presents a “constitutional issue” because of the separation of church and state.

“It boils down to there’s not one valid reason to keep this antiquated law on the books,” Nevins said.....

THIRSTY FOR RELIEF

Now that the economy and the state budget have taken turns for the worse, some legislators are ready to reverse Connecticut’s last blue law.

State Sen. John Kissel (R) and Reps. Karen Jarmoc (D) and Kathy Tallarita (D) have introduced legislation calling for the repeal of the Sunday alcohol sales ban. Kissel, Jarmoc and Tallarita represent Enfield, Conn., where some owners of package stores (stores that sell closed-container beer, wine and liquor to be consumed off the premises) say they are losing business to consumers who travel out of state to buy alcohol on Sundays.

Indeed, Nevins said many of his potential customers in Greenwich drive to New York to buy alcohol on Sundays while other Connecticut residents go to Massachusetts or Rhode Island.

“Businesses on the border are being denied revenue,” he said. “And the State of Connecticut is losing millions of dollars in tax revenue.”

Economic data suggest that the reversal of the ban would be a boon for alcohol vendors, said Ben Jenkins, a spokesman for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a national trade association that supports Sunday alcohol sales. All 13 states that have authorized Sunday alcohol sales since 2002 saw between 5 and 8 percent increases in sales when they started selling on Sundays, Jenkins explained.....

Full Story: www.yaledailynews.com

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