Debating Sunday Alcohol Sales... Again
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Connecticut is looking at allowing Sunday liquor sales again.
A key legislative committee says Connecticut would realize $8 million in tax revenue if it allowed package stores and supermarkets to sell alcohol on Sunday. This comes as the state continues to deal with a huge budget deficit this fiscal year, and potentially even bigger deficits in 2011 and 2012.
Some lawmakers say it's time the state allowed Sunday sales. Senator John Kissel (R), Enfield, says the argument is a strong one. He says he understands the concerns some people have, and he says he would support a compromise with Sunday sales being alowed during holiday seasons.
But the Connecticut Package Store Association is against the idea. It says it would simply spread out sales over seven days instead of six, and that it would not mean extra money. It also says Massachusetts, for the first time, has imposed a tax on alcohol, 6.25 percent. Lobbyist Carroll Hughes says that means consumers will no longer be going to Massachusetts to buy alcohol, they will stay in Connecticut. With Massachusetts no longer a threat, he says, the impetus for Sunday sales in Connecticut should be reduced.
No word on if, or when, the legislature would take up the matter.
Posted Friday, Dec 18, 2009 - 8:25 PM EST
