State Senator Rich Draheim (R-Madison Lake), voted yesterday to overturn the state law preventing liquor stores from operating on Sundays. House File 30 would let liquor stores sell beer, wine, and alcohol between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m on Sundays, while continuing to prohibit deliveries and merchandising on that day. The bill passed by a bipartisan vote of 38-28.

“When I was elected to the Senate I was undecided about Sunday sales,” said Sen. Draheim. “I voted for the bill today because of the strong public support for repealing the bill. About 85% of the feedback I’ve received has been in support of getting rid of the ban. My constituents made it crystal clear what they wanted, and I’m glad we were able to get this done for them. I voted to give the freedom back to the store owners and local municipalities to choose whether they want to be open or not. Now comes the work on our top agenda item for 2017: building a new state budget.”

The House version of the bill allows liquor stores to open an hour earlier than the Senate version. Before the bill can be signed by Gov. Dayton, it will return to the House where they will choose to either accept the Senate version or request a conference committee.