Minnesota’s Sunday Liquor Law Coming to an End [WATCH]
For 81-years Minnesota has had a ban on Sunday liquor sales. The bill has been approved to finally lift that ban this year.
Minnesota is one of only 12 states in the US that has this law that's been upheld since it started in the prohibition era. It's been unlawful for any retailer to sell alcohol on a Sunday.
The bill was approved by the Minnesota Senate, and now has to be passed by the House committee, and this year it finally looks promising. Last year the bill came through the Senate and was not approved, this year it was approved easily.
The lift on the ban would allow liquor stores to remain open on Sunday and sell any alcohol from 10am to 6pm. Delivery trucks would not be allowed to operate though. Liquor stores aren't required to be open on Sunday, it's their decision.
Liquor store owners are split with their opinions about opening on Sunday. The smaller stores already put in a long 6-day week, and now may be forced to be there 7-days a week to compete. They worry that if they stay closed on Sunday, they'll lose their customers to a larger store who is open.
Governor Dayton says there's more important things for him to worry about and if the bill lands on his desk it will get passed. If it gets passed quickly, the ban would likely be lifted in 2018.
Until then, we'll just have to continue to make a long Sunday run to Wisconsin...