Undoing prohibition-era ban on Sunday liquor sales gets by Minnesota House

Senate hearing Wed., where Majority Leader says ban could fall.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota House has voted to undo the state’s decades-old ban on Sunday liquor sales. 

Monday’s vote was the first step in reversing the Prohibition-era law. Minnesota lawmakers have tried and failed for years to legalize Sunday sales but regularly fallen far short. 

The 85-45 vote comes just a year after House lawmakers voted to uphold it. Bill author Rep. Jenifer Loon says it’s simply time to remove the ban after consumers have demanded it. 

“I would not want to be open on a Sunday,” Dave Ruppert, owner of Fifth St. Liquor in Winona, Minn., said. “But for business purposes and because of the fact that we lose so much revenue from Wisconsin.

“If we were in the middle of the state I would say, ‘No, don’t do it.’ But we’re right on the border and it’s just not good.”

The vote now puts pressure on the Senate, where a bill repealing Sunday sales is set for a Wednesday hearing. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says he can foresee the ban falling this year. 

The legislation would allow liquor stores to open starting in July. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he’d sign it.