Once again, the Minnesota House has debated, then thunderously rejected, the idea of legalizing liquor sales on Sunday.
Rep. Tina Liebling's attempt to lift Minnesota's longstanding ban went down hard Wednesday, by a vote of 106-21. The vote leaves Minnesota as one of just 12 states that still bar liquor stores from opening their doors on Sunday.
"We don't tell the bars to close on Sunday," said Liebling, a Rochester Democrat who said the old blue laws are unfair to consumers and to liquor store owners who would like to sell on Sunday. "Many, many responsible drinkers in the state, responsible consumers, simply want the opportunity to shop on Sunday, which is a day that many people want to go out and shop...We should not allow an industry to say 'We don't want to compete on one day of the week. Keep this day for us so we don't have to compete.'"
Minnesota is surrounded on all sides by states, and foreign nations, that have legalized Sunday sales. But an influential coalition at the Legislature -- liquor store owners, Teamsters and liquor industry lobbyists -- have joined forces for years to fight every effort to change the law.
Liquor store owners argue that lifting the Sunday sale ban would hurt tiny Mom and Pop shops, and would simply spread six days of sales across seven days. Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, attempted to solve the problem by suggesting that state law be changed to allow liquor stores to choose the one day of the week they will close.
This is one of those issues that blurs party lines.
"Let me tell you, you go across the border on Sundays and those liquor stores across the border are buzzing," said Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, whose district sits just across the river from Wisconsin. "We are exporting our business from Minnesota...The discussion's been about liquor store owners. What about the people of Minnesota?...The people of Minnesota want this amendment."
But this year, the liquor debate was soured by the recent House vote to hike the liquor tax for the first time in decades.
