INDIANAPOLIS – Hoosiers could purchase alcohol for carry-out on Sundays under a proposal from a legislature-created study commission on alcohol reform.
The hours for sales would be limited from noon to 8 p.m. for permit-holders that currently sell from Mondays through Saturdays. To become state code, the plan would need to be approved by the Indiana General Assembly during its session in early 2018.
The recommendation was unveiled Tuesday by the Alcohol Code Revision Commission, which took on the task of reviewing more than a dozen preliminary drafts of changes to current laws.
The proposal for Sunday sales was the only draft that went to a voice vote by the commission Tuesday. The commission has a Dec. 1 meeting set to review other recommended changes in the state’s alcohol sales code.
A vote on a proposal to expand cold beer sales was put on hold. Even if they passed the commission, the provisions might not go into effect until 2019.
One of the provisions would require all Hoosiers to provide identification when buying alcohol. Currently, that discretion is left to clerks if they believe the consumer is under 50. That proposal, however, would likely be rejected by legislators who sometimes receive complaints from older Hoosiers forced to show ID.
“They were offended, particularly the veterans,” said state Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette.
“Either everybody cards or nobody cards,” said state Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson. “But it’s about curtailing underage access.” Austin had recommended a series of changes to alcohol laws including the prohibition of legislators taking campaign contributions from the liquor industry. She also recommended that all fees for alcohol permits be used for law enforcement, treatment abuse and education.
Another proposal presented to the commission would allow minors to be inside package liquor stores if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian who is 21 or older. Those who support the proposal contend that it would be better to take a child into a store than leave the child outside in a car.
Last week, a Ball State University survey found that 61 percent of Hoosiers support the sale of cold beer in supermarkets and convenience stores
while 31 percent oppose it. Cold beer is currently available in Indiana only in package liquor stores.
The Old National Bank/Ball State University 2017 Survey found that support for the sale of cold beer outside liquor stores is slightly higher among Democrats and independents than among Republicans. Also, survey-takers in the northern and central part of the state were more favorable than their southern peers toward expansion of cold beer sales.