Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

House Rejects Attempt To Remove Core Of Sunday Alcohol Bill

Robert Terell
/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ratterrell/

In committee Rep. Tom Dermody, R-LaPorte, added to his bill stringent new regulations for non-liquor stores that sell alcohol.

Those include requirements to section off alcohol to one area in the store and mandating that hard liquor be put behind a counter.

An amendment on the House floor Thursday would have allowed grocery stores to keep hard liquor out on the floor, while requiring that liquor to have safety caps and 24-hour video surveillance.

Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson, says the amendment helps average Hoosier shoppers.

“I don’t think that by giving folks who do their grocery shopping on Sunday – the number one shopping day of the week – the opportunity to pick these items up and put them in their cart, even if they have a child, is going to cause the state to come to ruin,” Austin says.

But Rep. Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne, says he wants hard liquor behind a counter.

“I don’t appreciate, I don’t like the fact that kids can run up and down an aisle with liquor in it,” Carbaugh says.

The amendment failed by a 45-47 vote.

The bill will be up for passage by the full House next week.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
Related Content