The 21st Amendment ending Prohibition may have been signed in 1933 but American’s have been working to eliminate many of those post Prohibition laws for more than 85 years. Today, the state of West Virginia took one more step forward by ending the ban on selling alcohol on Sundays.
West Virginia Stores Could Sell Beer & Wine but Not Distilled Spirits.
Those Days are History!
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Previously, consumers in West Virginia were only allowed to buy beer and wine at retail stores on Sundays. Beginning this weekend, West Virginians can purchase a bottle of spirits any day of the week, under a new law signed today by Governor Jim Justice. Under the new law, distilled spirits will be permitted for sale in retail stores on Sundays after 1 p.m., except for Easter and Christmas. Del. Brandon Steele (R-Raleigh) was the lead sponsor of the legislation, HB 2481.
“More and more states are rolling back these outdated Sunday sales bans to modernize their alcohol laws and increase consumer convenience,” said Chris Swonger, President and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, the trade association for the nation’s distillers that supported the legislation. “These archaic laws no longer serve a public interest, undermine business freedom and eliminate consumer choice.”
According to a Distilled Spirits Council economic analysis, Sunday liquor sales could generate more than $1 million in new state revenue if all stores open that are eligible under the law.
43 States Now Allow Sunday Sales, Seven to Go
Since 2002, 21 states have passed Sunday spirits sales legislation bringing the total to 43 states across the country. Most recently, Indiana and Tennessee passed Sunday sales legislation in 2018, and the Virginia legislature has passed legislation this session that would roll back hours of operation on Sunday from noon to 10 a.m.
View all West Virginia Distilleries.
WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE 2019 REGULAR SESSION
Committee Substitute for House Bill 2481
By Delegates Steele, Foster, Kessinger, Pushkin, Barrett and Pyles
Passed February 19, 2019; in effect from passage.
Signed by Governor Justice February 28, 2019AN ACT to amend and reenact §60-3A-18 and §60-3A-25 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to allowing retail liquor licensees to sell liquor on Sundays, other than Easter Sunday and those Sundays on which Christmas falls, beginning no earlier than 1 p.m.; and removing the criminal offense of selling liquor on Sundays.
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