Local News
Alcohol bill has one more chance
By Patrick McCrelessAlabama senators have one more chance during this legislative session to override Gov. Bob Riley’s veto of a bill that would give small municipalities the option of selling alcohol.
“It’s got a chance to be brought up again next week on Thursday,” said Sen. Zeb Little.
The legislative session ends May 15.
The Senate failed to override the veto in a 13-15 vote Wednesday. Eighteen votes were needed for the override.
“When the governor vetoed it, he lobbied it pretty hard,” Little said. “Some senators who voted for it last time changed their votes. That sometimes happens.”
Little, who voted against the bill and supported the veto, said he did not know why some senators decided to change their votes.
The House overrode the veto last week and had the Senate followed suit, the bill would have become law.
If approved, House Bill 175 would allow municipalities with populations of at least 1,000 to vote on whether or not to go wet. Currently, state law allows towns with at least 7,000 people to vote to legalize liquor sales in dry counties.
In Cullman County, which has been dry for decades, the affected municipalities include the city of Cullman, Hanceville and Good Hope.
To place the choice on a local ballot in a special election, the bill requires supporters to collect signatures equaling 30 percent of the voters in the city’s last general election.
The bill would also allow for Sunday alcohol sales in some Shelby County restaurants.
In a written statement, Riley said he vetoed the bill because, “as currently drafted, it is unconstitutional in that it attempts to treat two different and distinct issues in one bill."
Little said that was not his reasoning for voting against the bill.
“I hadn’t looked at that part of it ... I don’t know if it was constitutional or not,” he said.
To Little, the bill would have placed an undue financial burden on small municipalities.
“Towns at that level don’t always have the resources to support police to deal with that,” Little said in a previous story.
Under state law, cities that allow alcohol sales must have a municipal court to deal with alcohol-related offenses, such as drunk driving.
Little’s counterparts, Reps. James Fields and Jeremy Oden, also voted against the bill and supported the veto due to the financial burden it would supposedly cause.
‰ Patrick McCreless can be reached by e-mail at patrickm@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.
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