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Morris News Service

(3/17/08) A large majority of Georgians may favor the ability to buy alcohol in stores on Sundays, but as Gov. Sonny Perdue pointed out recently, this isn't a democracy. It's a republic.

So, the only way Georgians are going to get to buy booze on Sundays is through legislative action. But it won't be straightforward, or at least it hasn't been so far.

Four bills are pending that would permit Sunday alcohol sales: one that passed the Senate would allow it in limousines traveling through cities where it's already permitted, one that stalled last year in a Senate committee that would allow cities and counties to hold a referendum on Sunday sales, and a similar House version that never came up for a vote. Fourth, there is a bill that would allow it in a stadium to be built in Gwinnett County.

As introduced, Senate Bill 454, sponsored by Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, only added the word "county" to existing law that allows stadiums in cities to offer alcohol on Sundays if the city already does. Since all the other Georgia stadiums that host professional sports are in cities, it didn't become an issue until Gwinnett County planned to build a home for the Braves to move their Class AAA farm team to from Richmond, Va.

That's how the bill passed the Senate. Then a House committee last week amended it to include the wording of the statewide measure over Unterman's objections.

It's not that she frowns on drinking.

Unterman has several other alcohol bills pending as well. One would allow diners to take a resealed bottle of wine home from restaurants if they don't finish it with their meal. Another would permit wine fans to order directly from wineries. Plus, she cosponsored the limousine bill.

It's just that she doesn't want her stadium bill vetoed and an economic-development coup for her county in jeopardy.

And she doesn't see anything hypocritical about supporting Sunday sales in one instance and not in another.

"I personally think that it is hypocrisy on the part of the House," she said, noting a statewide bill that was introduced there a year ago that had never gotten a hearing. Act on that one, not hers, she argued.

A veto is a real threat.

Last year Perdue, breaking from his usual habit of not commenting on bills before they're passed, said in a radio interview that he would veto the statewide Sunday sales bill. His comment effectively killed it, despite polls showing its popularity in the state, because lawmakers on the fence refused to risk a controversial vote for a measure that would never get past the governor.

Interestingly, Unterman and Perdue, in separate press conferences Thursday, each declined to spell out what their next move would be. Unterman told reporters she hasn't decided if she'll use parliamentary rules to try to remove the statewide provision from her bill if it passes the House.

Perdue wouldn't say specifically if he'll veto it or not, probably hoping to scare it away and avoid an uncomfortable choice of going against popular opinion or against his beliefs. But then, he said he was ready to sign the stadium bill as "a clean, standalone bill for their economic-development project out there."

The convenience-store lobby is pushing the statewide bill. Since they're open anyway on Sundays, they want another day for impulse beer purchases.

The liquor stores are opposed. Since they already supply many of the advance purchases for Sunday consumption, they're not eager to either lose business to the convenience stores or have to pay to staff another day in business.

Joining the chorus in opposition are many churches and groups like the Christian Coalition, which may have mastered understatement in a recent press release.

"This fight for the safety of Georgia families is far from over," wrote Jim Beck, the group's Georgia president.

It's coming down to a game of chicken in which the supporters of statewide Sunday sales are daring Perdue and Unterman to risk losing the Braves farm team to another state if they don't let the bill pass in its current form.

Egging things on is House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday that he would attempt an override if the governor vetoed Unterman's bill. A year ago, that might have seemed like a hollow threat, but now that legislators have overridden one Perdue veto at the start of the session, they've proven they could do it again.

Perdue and Unterman aren't the only ones in an uncomfortable position. Another is Richard Tucker, a politically active developer who boasts of owning the state's largest liquor store and a vocal opponent of Sunday sales. He is also chairman of the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors.

He was quoted in a Braves press release in January gushing about the team's decision to play in his county.

"The Atlanta Braves organization has no equal in Major League Baseball, and the partnership with the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau will bring a new level of enthusiasm for the citizens of Gwinnett County and the great state of Georgia," he said.

Could the strategy and action on the baseball diamond ever match what's going on in the General Assembly? Perhaps they should sell peanuts and beer at the Capitol instead.