Sunday liquor sales bill clears final hurdle, headed to Governor Dayton’s desk

Photo by Kevin Kramer, The Growler

On Thursday, March 2, the Minnesota House of Representatives re-passed House File 30, a bill that will legalize the sale of alcohol from retail establishments on Sundays. Having passed the House and the Senate, the bill is now headed to the desk of Governor Mark Dayton, who has said he will sign it into law.

Both the House and Senate passed versions of the legislation in recent weeks, but the bills differed on the hours of operation for liquor retailers on Sundays. Instead of taking the legislation to conference committee to settle the discrepancy, the House bill’s author, Rep. Jenifer Loon (R–Eden Prairie), chose to amend House File 30 to concur with the Senate’s version, which sets the hours at 11am–6pm. That amended bill was then re-passed by the House in an 88-39 vote. If signed by the governor, the law will go into effect on July 1, 2017, making July 2 the first Sunday Minnesotans will be able to purchase alcohol from a liquor store since Prohibition.

“I am excited that after four years of championing Sunday Sales legislation, we are finally changing an outdated law which has been in place since statehood,” Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie), who chief authored the bill, said in a press release. “Thanks to a strong grassroots effort by Minnesotans who advocated for this change and contacted their legislators, 2017 is the year we finally change this outdated law and allow liquor stores to serve their customers on Sundays.”

Big news today about the next step for #SundaySales in #Minnesota. #mnleg #SundaySalesMN pic.twitter.com/ObDQHKUIwv

— Rep. Jenifer Loon (@JeniferLoon) March 2, 2017