The North Dakota Senate has shot down a bill designed to further relax the state’s prohibition on alcohol sales in bars and restaurants.
Right now license holders are banned from selling booze between the hours of 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday – as well as between 2 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sunday. In addition alcohol sales must stop at six p-m on Christmas Eve through Christmas Day.
Senate Bill 21-53 would have changed the law to allow alcohol sales on December 24th until the establishment closed. Senator Erin Oban says many people feel the six p-m cutoff is arbitrary.
The bill was defeated in the Senate by a 20-to-27 vote.
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Sunday alcohol sales in North Dakota could be loosened under a bill that was given a “do-pass” recommendation by the Senate Industry, Business and Labor Committee.
The state now prohibits the sale of alcohol before 11 a-m on Sundays. Grand Forks Senator Scott Meyer’s bill would allow liquor stores…restaurants…bars and other establishments to sell alcohol starting at 8 a-m on Sundays.
Meyer says the change is one more way to keep the service industries hit hard by restrictions during the pandemic.
The bill now goes to the Senate for a vote.
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