Panel thirsts for facts in Sunday alcohol sales debate

By Bill Ruthhart
bill.ruthhart@indystar.com

Need to stock your cooler for the Colts' season opener? Better have the beer on ice the night before.

That's because Indiana prohibits the sale of carry-out liquor on Sundays.

This and other liquor laws -- including that cold beer can be sold only in liquor stores -- will be discussed when the Indiana Legislature Interim Study Committee on Alcoholic Beverages meets later this summer.

The committee's goal is to get the facts before hearing more proposals on liquor-law changes when the legislature next goes into session. Statewide, more than 11,000 liquor or beer sales permits are held by businesses and organizations.

Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, who pushed to create the study committee, said he's most interested in understanding the potential impact of expanded alcohol sales on drunken-driving accidents and underage drinking.

Alting said legislators know well the positions of groups for and against changing the laws, but getting the facts has been difficult.

"If you work for Kroger, you want the sales on Sunday. If you own a convenience store, you want to sell cold beer to increase your sales. If you're a liquor store, you don't want anyone else to have (cold beer sales) because you're the only game in town," Alting said. "But none of these opinions are based on solid facts."

One part of the debate is Sunday sales, which are allowed "by the drink" at restaurants, bars, taverns and private clubs. Another is cold beer sales. Grocery and convenience stores, which can sell warm beer (except on Sundays), also are seeking the right to sell cold beer, a privilege reserved for liquor stores.

"People just don't understand why Sunday sales are allowed in restaurants, bars and taverns, but not at the store,'' said Matt Norris, an organizer with Hoosiers for Beverage Choice, a coalition of associations that want Sunday sales. "They don't get why we can sell beer warm, but not cold. It just doesn't make sense to them."

This summer, Norris' group distributed petitions at grocery and convenience stores statewide asking people who support Sunday sales to sign. About 30,000 did.

An Indianapolis Star poll last fall showed 46 percent of Hoosiers supported changing the law to allow Sunday sales, while 45 percent were opposed. That was up from a 2006 poll that showed 50 percent against the change and 43 percent in favor.

John Livengood, president of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, which represents liquor stores, said his members don't want Sunday sales or retail businesses to have the right to sell cold beer.

If that happens, he said, liquor stores would face unfair competition. The big retail businesses such as Walmart or Kroger already have in place Sunday staffing. Their additional costs would be minimal. But liquor stores' added costs to open on Sundays in order to stay competitive could hurt them.

"Sunday sales would put the package liquor stores on life support, and cold beer in convenience stores would pull the plug," Livengood said.

If state laws are changed, Livengood predicts, most liquor stores would go out of business, taking with them 8,000 jobs.

"For us, this is about survival. We're talking about small Hoosier businesses," he said.

Another issue is money.

Grant Monahan, president of the Indiana Retail Council, which represents convenience, gas and grocery stores, says members of that group have agreed to increase dues and pay additional taxes to the state amounting to about $9 million if they are allowed to sell cold beer.

In June 2009, more than $4.2 million was collected by the state in alcoholic beverage taxes.

Alting predicts that any final call will be based on what legislators think is best for Hoosiers, not on how much more revenue the state can bring in.

"Some states just get greedy . . . and don't worry about the grieving mom and dad whose teenager got in a wreck and killed their three friends in the car because they drank too much. So, we need to look at the public policy of this, not just the revenue."

Professor Brian Vargus, who teaches political science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said the only way lawmakers will make changes in law is if considerably more revenue can be raised from the changes. The $9 million in extra revenue pitched so far by the grocery store and big-box retailers is "nothing," he said.

In the end, Vargus doesn't expect a lot of action, considering both sides have well-funded, powerful lobbying groups.

"You have to remember that the next session comes in an election year, and lawmakers stay away from controversy before elections," he said. "The best bet is that nothing will happen."

Additional Facts

FOR SUNDAY AND COLD BEER SALES
Hoosiers for Beverage Choices is a coalition of large-chain grocery stores such as Kroger; big-box retailers such as Walmart; convenience stores and gas stations, such as BP; groups represented by the Indiana Petroleum Council; the Indiana Retail Council; and the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association.

Their arguments
• Consumer convenience: Sunday is the second-biggest shopping day of the week. "They want one-stop shopping. They want convenience," said Grant Monahan, president of the Indiana Retail Council.
• Fairness and common sense: People can now drink at a restaurant or bar on Sunday and drive home, but not have the freedom to buy liquor on Sunday and take it home to drink.
• Everyone else is doing it: Indiana is one of only 15 states that prohibit carry-out sales of alcohol on Sundays. It is one of only three that prohibit retailers from selling on Sundays but allow bars, restaurants and taverns to.
• Indiana law hurts business along its borders: All of Indiana's neighbors allow Sunday sales.
• Lost tax revenue: With Sunday sales and a permit-fees boost, the state could get $12 million more in revenue.

AGAINST SUNDAY AND COLD BEER SALES
Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, composed of liquor store owners.

Their arguments
• One more day, no more money: "The grocery stores already have the labor in place, they're already there and open, so it would cost them nothing to sell liquor on Sundays," said liquor store owner Jim Arnold, owner of Kahn's Fine Wines & Spirits.
• Change will cause unemployment: Hundreds of neighborhood liquor stores could go out of business, taking with them about 8,000 jobs.
• More drunken driving: The number of drunken-driving accidents will increase because the number of stores selling cold beer would increase.
• More abusers: Minors will have more accessibility. They can't go into liquor stores, but they can go into convenience stores and gas stations.
• Remember the Sabbath: Sunday is a religious day. Liquor shouldn't be sold on it.

By the numbers
Here's a look at the most common categories for Indiana's more than 11,000 liquor licenses:
• Restaurants: 6,195.
• Grocery: 1,282.
• Package liquor store: 1,043.
• Social/fraternal club: 1,009.
• Drug/convenience store: 648.
• Hotel: 244.

-- Source: Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission