Lawmakers Consider Early Booze Sales on Sunday - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Lawmakers Consider Early Booze Sales on Sunday

A legislative proposal would allow you to buy alcohol on a Sunday before you could buy toothpaste or other necessities.

The bill would give bars and liquor stores the option to open and sell booze at ten a.m. on Sunday.

By law, they are currently unable to sell alcohol before noon on Sunday.

Liquor stores and bars can open at eight a.m. on all other days of the week.

Representative Randy Boehning says local governments can make the decision on whether or not to allow the early opening in their city or county.

Boehning says surrounding states sell booze on Sunday mornings.

"The one complaint is during football or mascara season, those games and races start right around noon or slightly before noon and there are businesses in my membership that would like to be able to open slightly earlier than that," says Rudie Martinson with the North Dakota Hospitality Association.

President of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association, Mike Rud, also supports the bill. He says allowing off sale earlier is critical. "Just from owning a business on the lake, the impact is quite substantial. The amount of customers you turn away could be 20-30 customers before noon on a Sunday. It's a big number and that's one site, there are others that are busier than ours in Garrison," says Rud.

No one spoke in opposition to the bill.

The House committee gave the bill a "do pass" recommendation with a vote of 8-3.

There are other bills being proposed that expand on this idea, allowing for other retailers to be open before noon on Sunday.