Legislation would allow sale of alcohol on Sundays
A bill that would allow liquor stores to be open on Sundays passed 23-8 in the Senate on Monday.
It was introduced in the House and assigned to the Business Affairs and Labor committee the same day.
Sen. Jennifer Veiga (D-Adams and Denver County), introduced the bill, SB-082, in January. She said the bill is only halfway through and has yet to go through the House committees.
The House Sponsor Rep. Cheri Jahn, a (D-Jefferson County) said the bill will be heard in Business Affairs this afternoon and has gotten a lot of support and she anticipates that it will pass.
Raphael Oh, 32, the manager of Broadway Wine & Spirits said he supports SB-082 now that the grocery bill has been killed.
The grocery bill, Senate Bill 08-149, was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Brandon Shaffer (D-Boulder) on Feb. 7. It was assigned to the Judiciary Committee and did not pass. The bill would have enabled grocery stores to sell regular beer and wine, but not liquor.
The grocery bill and the liquor store bill were stand alone bills and were not intended to be related.
The House Sponsor for the grocery bill, Senate Bill 08-149, Rep. Jack Pommer (D-Boulder) said liquor stores are an incredibly powerful lobby because they exist in every district.
“Every owner or employee of a liquor store called their state legislature and said they’d starve to death if grocery stores could compete with them,” Pommer said.
Katey Weiland, 30, the general manager of Harvest Wine & Spirits said she supports the liquor store bill.
“I’m happy the grocery bill didn’t pass and more than willing to work on Sundays and hire another employee,” Weiland said.
Lawrence Gray, 41, owner of Bottles Wine & Spirits said he also supports the liquor store bill and thinks that being open on Sunday would create enough revenue to pay for employees and keeping stores open on Sundays.
Weiland said she does not think the bill will affect her business in a positive or negative way, but does not see the need to stay open from 9 a.m. to midnight during the week.
She said she will probably not keep her regular store hours if the bill passes.
“We’ll be open none the less,” she said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Emily Burrows-Poretsky at emily.burrows-poretsky@colorado.edu.
