Early Booze Brunch Bill Will Be Decided By Voters On Nov. 6

ATLANTA, GA -- Georgia's nationally watched governor's race is getting the most attention as Election Day is just over a week away, but voters will have plenty of other items on this year's Nov. 6 ballot, including a decision about Sunday morning alcohol sales. The “Mimosa Mandate,” also called the Booze Brunch Bill, was passed in the 2018 session of the Georgia General Assembly, and thanks to SB 17, voters will choose whether to allow alcohol sales in their respective cities after 11 am on Sundays, a full 1.5 hours before the current cut-off of 12:30 p.m.

Sponsored by state Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, the bill permits city councils and county commissions to call for referendum votes on the measure.

Restaurant owners had complained that Georgia's current alcohol law hurt their bottom line by outlawing liquor sales during peak brunch hours on Sundays.

In Georgia, all sale of alcohol on Sundays was illegal until 2011. That year, after the legislature approved it, every county in the state voted whether to allow Sunday sales. In all, 105 of Georgia's 159 counties voted to allow it.

Unterman's legislation doesn't open up Sunday-morning boozing for everybody, though. Only establishments that make at least 50 percent of their money from food will be allowed to start selling booze at 11 a.m.

The bill directs elections superintendents to issue a call for the referendums between 30-60 days of Tuesday, when it was signed. Some cities and counties in Georgia have gotten ahead of the game, already approving measures that called for elections if Deal signed the bill. Read the full language of Senate Bill 17 here.

See Also Early Booze 'Brunch Bill' Signed By Gov. Deal

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