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For the third consecutive session, the question of Sunday alcohol sales has come before the Georgia Legislature, and on the local level, proponents and critics of the measure are as adamant as ever.

On Wednesday, Senate Bill 16 came before the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, though the vote was delayed because only two senators were present, and the committee could not reach a quorum. As a proposal to allow local voters the option of approving Sunday alcohol sales, the bill will likely be voted on in committee next Wednesday.

The bill, authored by Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, has already seen a number of revisions to increase the penalties for underage consumption and sales, said Jim Beck, president of the Georgia Christian Coalition and an opponent of the legislation.

“I can tell you that we’re still not crazy about the bill but it’s been strengthened considerably,” Beck said. “It is a much-improved bill. We still hope it’s defeated but it’s much improved.”

Beck cites two major concerns he has with Sunday sales, the first being that it “sullies the sabbath.” Sunday should be a day for religious fellowship and family togetherness, Beck said, and should not be tarnished with drunkenness and debauchery.

He said Sunday sales also would be just the beginning of the propagation of statewide alcohol sales. Once sales are approved on Sunday, there’s little reason to believe that it won’t lead to 24-hour availability of booze, he said. As was the case with gambling in Georgia, it began with the lottery, then progressed to scratcher tickets, then progressed to Keno machines, and now Atlanta developers are pushing for a full-fledged underground casino.

That domino effect is being encouraged by the same people who paint critics of the bill as religious zealots, hellbent on pushing their fundamentalist agenda on the rest of the state, Beck said.

“There’s such an incrementalism to this,” he said. “They try to get people on our side of the issue to look like Bible-thumpers, and the truth is that just because something is in the Bible, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. A lot of our laws are based on Judeo-Christian principles. I don’t hear people complaining about murder being illegal but it’s in our top ten list of things not to do.”

Further opposition is coming from the most unlikely of places. Quenton Debardlebon, an employee at Showcase Beverage in Carrollton, said he thinks Sunday sales would be a waste of time and energy. As it stands, he said, if people want to drink, they can stock up on Saturday.

“People are still going to drink on Sundays, so what difference is it going to make?” he said.

For a person that works six days a week now, Debardlebon said he hardly wants to add another shift to his already busy schedule.

Others said the boost it would give to their business trumps any scheduling conflict. Sunday is the second busiest day of the week for grocery sales at the Kroger in Carrollton, and alcohol sales would only make it that much more profitable, said General Manager Greg Smith.

People know that they need to buy beer on Saturday, he said, but it’s often something that simply slips their minds.

“Saturdays are a big sales day for alcohol sales but I think it’s more of a cookout day type thing where they just forget,” Smith said. “Beer, believe it or not, is a last-minute thing on people’s list.”

The current Sunday prohibition only leads people to rush to the store late Saturday night, Smith said. More than not, those people are already drunk and should not be on the road, he said.

While the allowance of Sunday sales might lessen the risk of late-night drunken driving, it all may be a moot point in the end. Gov. Sonny Perdue has said he’d veto the bill should it pass both the House and the Senate and wind up on his desk.

Georgia is one of only three states in the country that bans alcohol sales on Sunday.