New bill: Liquor can be sold on Sundays

Gov. Mark Schweiker will sign a bill passed by the state legislature last week allowing Sunday liquor sales in Pennsylvania.

The legislation establishes a two-year pilot program in which 10 percent of state stores will be open on Sundays, though particular stores have not yet been selected.

"It's a pilot study, and the governor feels it's worth taking a look at," said Schweiker spokesman David La Torre.

Sunday sales were approved as part of a larger liquor policy bill.

The sales are expected to generate $100 million in annual revenue, leading opponents to charge that the state is jeopardizing public welfare for financial reasons.

Philadelphia Democratic Sen. Anthony Williams was the "poster boy" for opposition to the bill, according to his spokeswoman Sheila Simmons.

"It may be something applicable to communities that are more affluent and socially balanced, but for places that already have economic challenges and social problems, it doesn't work at all," Williams said in a statement last week. "And I believe the citizens and their dignity should supersede revenues."

"His thought was that there's already enough alcohol abuse in the neighborhood," Simmons said of Williams' opposition.

Williams sponsored two amendments in opposition to the legislation. One would have removed the Sunday sales portion entirely, and the other would have excluded Philadelphia stores from the law.

Both amendments ultimately failed.

But while Williams and other legislators criticized Sunday sales as a revenue generator, supporters claim the bill was more about convenience than money.

"This is a convenience issue, not just a revenue issue," Rep. Roy Reinard told The Philadelphia Inquirer last week.

Currently, state residents who want to buy alcohol on Sunday have to go out of state, a practice which is illegal under current Pennsylvania laws.

Reinard, an outgoing Republican representative from Bucks County, sponsored the Sunday sales legislation.

La Torre did not yet have an exact date for when Schweiker would sign the bill.

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