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A recent newspaper op-ed piece by Gov. Sonny Perdue against Sunday alcohol sales has some calling the teetotaler's arguments based on faulty research, including state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Columbus -- the bill's author.

Perdue's essay was printed in a number of Georgia newspapers last week. In it, he refers to Harp's legislation, Senate Bill 137, which would legalize the off-premises package sale of beer and wine on Sunday.

"Do no harm," Perdue writes. "It might sound like a simple concept, but it is one that I am afraid supporters of Sunday alcohol sales might have forgotten."

Perdue relies heavily in his argument on a study done in New Mexico, which legalized off-premises package sales in the 1990s. Quoting from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study, Perdue says that legalizing Sunday package alcohol sales "exacts a significant price that is paid by crash victims and their loved ones, health care providers, insurers, law enforcement and the judicial systems."

Not so, said Dr. Jason C. Rudbeck, with The University of Georgia's economics school. Rudbeck used the same data from the original study in his own research, and using a different methodology, came up with different results.

Namely, that selling alcohol on Sunday does not increase the number of alcohol-related crashes and deaths -- a contradiction to Perdue's argument.

"All accidents were increasing," Rudbeck said. "There were other factors they didn't account for."

The lecturer said the original study didn't take into account the increase in the state's speed limit some six months after the study began. Also, the first study only looked at the five years before and after the law changed allowing Sunday sales. Rudbeck's study extended that time to 10 years.

"If they had extended their time of study, they wouldn't have found any results at all," Rudbeck said.

The first study was faulty because of how it examined the numbers. In one model, researchers looked at only the number of alcohol-related accidents after the law changed. If the number of all accidents -- alcohol and non-alcohol related -- had been examined, the increase would have been statistically null, Rudbeck said.

"After sales were allowed on Sunday, we found no significant effect," he said. "Seven percent more accidents can be attributed to alcohol, but we can't say it matters statistically. We can't say that matters from zero. Even if there was an immediate effect, it wasn't stable. It went away."

Bill in motion

Harp's bill was augmented in the House's Regulated Industries Committee. It was attached by that committee to Senate Bill 454, which passed the Senate Feb. 26. That bill proposes to allow alcohol sales on Sundays in counties with privately owned stadiums or owned by a public authority and being able to seat more than 2,500 people. With Harp's language attached, it also would authorize Sunday off-premises package beer and wine sales, if communities allow it by referendum.

That bill has been referred to as the "Gwinnett County stadium" bill.

The Columbus senator has been told the chairman of the Regulated Industries Committee, Rep. Roger Williams, wanted to bring the bill out of committee, though he is waiting for instructions from Speaker Glenn Richardson.

If it does make it out of committee, it will go to the House's Rules Committee and from there to the House floor for a vote.

Wednesday, however, was the 39th day of the legislative session out of 40 days. The 40th day hasn't yet been scheduled.

"There's a lot of talk, but no action," Harp said of the bill.

Harp agreed with Rudbeck, saying the original New Mexico study was flawed. He's seen studies such as Rudbeck's that differ in their analysis. Rudbeck said he wishes the governor had looked at more than one study before he based his argument on just one.

"The Republican principle of individual freedom is just as important to me as it is to my colleagues in the legislature, but so is the principle of protecting innocent Georgians," Perdue writes.

Harp, however, said he is very serious about the separation of church and state. He said people should be allowed to do what they want, as long as it doesn't hurt people or infringe on their rights.

Even if the bill makes it through both houses and to the governor's desk, Harp is skeptical about its chances of becoming law.

"It may be prudent to just wait until the next governor comes in," he said.