Texas State Legislature Considers Blue Law Repeal

Removing Sunday Alcohol Sales Ban Would Generate Much-Needed Revenue and Provide Modern Convenience

Press Release - AUSTIN, TX – Repealing Texas’s outdated law banning Sunday alcohol sales will help Texas generate some much-needed revenue without raising taxes, according to Dale Szyndrowski, Vice President of the Distilled Spirits Council, testifying today before the Senate Budget and Commerce Committee in support of Senate Bill 595.

“Across the country, states are modernizing their liquor laws to boost state coffers and increase customer convenience,” said Szyndrowski, noting that since 2002, 14 states have passed legislation allowing Sunday sales of distilled spirits bringing the total to 36 states. “Anti-competitive sales bans simply have no place in today's marketplace. The hospitality industry is slowly rebounding from the recession, but the recovery is fragile. The government's role should be to foster competition, not to hold small businesses back from generating increased sales and important tax revenue for the state.”

Szyndrowski pointed to a recent economic analysis by Billy Hamilton, former Texas Deputy Comptroller and one-time Chief Revenue Estimator. Hamilton’s report, “Sunday Alcoholic Beverage Sales in Texas: State Policy and Revenue Potential,” found Sunday openings would generate $12 million in new tax revenues from increased sales and excise tax collections for the biennial budget.

In this economy where two-income families are the norm, Sunday is the second busiest shopping day of the week, Szyndrowski noted. Sunday sales won’t force any store owner to open – it just gives everyone the free choice and flexibility to open.

"Texans clearly don't have a problem with buying or selling alcohol on Sundays," Szyndrowski stated. "There are more than 30,000 locations in Texas that already sell beer and wine every Sunday. The ban on Sunday sales exists only for the state's 2,460 package store owners -- many of whom want to be open Sundays. It's time to correct this law."

CONTACT: Ben Jenkins, Distilled Spirits Council

March 8, 2011

(202) 341-1677 cell