State officials introduce legislation to ease repeal of Sunday liquor ban in Hillsdale
HILLSDALE COUNTY — For decades, bar-goers have been restricted from purchasing liquor and liquor-based mixed drinks from bars and restaurants in Hillsdale County on Sundays.
Business owners have made concerted efforts in recent years to collect signatures and bring the issue to the ballot to repeal the county's "blue law," in part because Hillsdale County entities were losing sales to surrounding counties.
Now, State Rep. Jennifer Wortz — working in tandem with State Senator Joseph Bellino — are trying to streamline the repeal process under the Michigan Liquor Control Code of 1998.
'Bars and restaurants in Hillsdale County have lost business to Indiana and neighboring communities because of county restrictions,' said Wortz, R-Quincy. 'People want to vote so they can weigh-in on changing the county rules and allowing drink sales on Sundays.
"However, a convoluted state law restricts local decision-making. By cleaning up the repeal process, our plan will increase local control and allow voters to give local businesses and customers more freedom.'
Wortz and Bellino have introduced identical bills in the House of Representatives and Senate, which would reduce the number of signatures needed for repeal to 5% of the total number of voters who participated in the most recent secretary of state election (down from 8%) and allow county boards to vote to place a repeal on the ballot directly.
The proposed legislation — House Bill 4398 and Senate Bill 264 — will also allow for clearer ballot proposal language.
Current state law requires the ballot question to ask whether a county should prohibit liquor sales — meaning a "yes" vote would keep the ban in place. The newly introduced bills would allow ballot language to ask if the county should permit liquor sales instead.
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'It's encouraging that our legislators are looking into this issue,' said Hillsdale Economic Development Director Sam Fry. 'We've had a number of businesses express interest in this, because it affects their bottom line.'
Hillsdale County's 'blue law' bans the sale of spirits and mixed spirit drinks for on-premises consumption from 7 a.m. Sunday to 2 a.m. Monday, and is the only remaining ban on Sunday alcohol sales in the state of Michigan.
'The people of Hillsdale County should get to decide whether to get rid of the old ban on Sunday spirit sales,' said Bellino, R-Monroe. 'Unfortunately, the state of Michigan makes it difficult even to allow county voters to make their voices heard. Our common-sense plan will remove unnecessary legal barriers — so residents can choose to remove the weekly 'closed for business' sign on the county borders.'
— Contact Reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Wortz, Bellino introduce bills to ease repeal of liquor ban in Hillsdale
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