Brief(1)
The bill would amend the Liquor Control Act to provide a county local option for the sale of package liquor on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. Liquor could not be sold on Independence Day if it fell on a Sunday.
The bill would allow retail liquor stores to be open on those holidays in any county where the voters had approved the proposition on the ballot at a countywide election. The question would only be placed on the ballot by a petition signed by at least 15 percent of the qualified voters who voted for all candidates for Secretary of State at the last election for that office. The vote would be held at the next countywide election held at least 60 days after a valid petition is filed.
The bill would become effective upon publication in the Kansas Register.
Background
The bill was requested by an Overland Park liquor store owner. During testimony in support of the bill, the requestor's representative suggested amendments that would allow liquor stores to operate during the same hours on the specified holidays as on any other day and would prohibit liquor stores from being open on Independence Day when it fell on a Sunday. The House Committee adopted those amendments. Other proponents of the bill included the Kansas Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Association, a beer wholesaler, and a Topeka liquor store owner.
Opponents of the bill included Kansans for Life At Its Best, the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Kansas, and the Kansas Churches of the Nazarene.
The fiscal note prepared by the Division of the Budget for the introduced version of the bill states that the bill would have no fiscal impact on the state. The fiscal note also states that any additional expense for a county's general election would be borne by the county. The fiscal note does not take into account any impact of Committee amendments.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.