Should Stores be Allowed to Sell Liquor on Sundays?

Texas legislators have a bill to consider this session-one that would allow liquor sales on Sunday. When I moved here many years ago, I was surprised when I went to buy beer one Sunday and couldn't, mainly because it was allowed every other place I've lived. I was also surprised that you can only buy it up to a certain hour in Texas. In fact, the only other restriction on booze that I've encountered was in North Carolina, where you had to be a member of a private club to buy mixed drinks, unless food made up a major percentage of your business, namely restaurants. Beyond that, many bars could only sell beer and wine, unless they were a private club. But I digress.

House Bill 421, proposed by State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), could increase state revenue by up to $8 million. The proposal has its share of critics, though. Steve Heinrich of the Bexar County Republican Party is one of them.

“I don't really know we need to balance the state budget by getting people to drink more, because you don't get more revenue unless people buy more liquor than they currently do,” Heinrich said.

As far as I'm concerned, it's not a big deal. I grew up in Michigan, where liquor could be sold in liquor stores up to an hour after the bars closed at 2am.

What are your thoughts? Personally, I'd like to be able to buy a beer when I'm watching the game, or at a Sunday barbecue.

As they say, you can't legislate morality, right?