Word: georgias
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...handful of state legislatures have declared it's closing time for Sunday alcohol sales restrictions, saying an extra day of sales could give their foundering budgets a much-needed shot of revenue. Those states - Georgia, Connecticut, Texas, Alabama and Minnesota - enjoy overwhelming voter support for an extra day of sales, but face opposition from members of the Christian right, who say that selling on Sunday undermines safety and tears apart families. "During times of economic stress, our families are under enough pressure," says Jim Beck, the president of the Georgia Christian Coalition. "I don't think we need...
Beck argues that when you're facing a budget shortfall in the billions, the extra revenue from an added day of alcohol sales is just a drop in the bucket. His opponents, however, insist it is significant. "At least it's a drop," says Georgia Senator Seth Harp, who introduced a bill proposing local referendums on Sunday sales. "Maybe it's even a cup full. But right now, I'd like to have a couple of cups full than nothing at all." (See what businesses are doing well despite the recession...
Three states - Georgia, Connecticut and Indiana - ban the sale of beer, wine and spirits, while 15 ban only liquor sales. Connecticut is considering repealing its ban because it has been losing revenue to New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, three neighboring states that repealed Sunday sales bans in 2003. Texas is also reconsidering Sunday sales bans of liquor, with three bills in the state's Senate, two of them specific to sales along the Texas-Mexico border. "States are seeing Sunday sales as a positive way to raise revenue without raising taxes or cutting valuable programs," says Ben Jenkins, spokesman...
...though religious groups have sounded off about how Sunday sales are harmful to families, legislators such as Harp are reaching out to them by adding enforcement provisions designed to crack down on store owners who sell to minors. In a state like Georgia, where more than two-thirds of residents say they'd like to be able to buy a six pack on the sabbath, Harp's efforts may just win his bill votes, even though Governor Sonny Perdue, a teetotaler, said he'd veto any bill that came across his desk...
...money: HBCUs are chronically underfunded, and Savannah State--with an endowment of just $3.4 million, compared with Armstrong's $7.9 million--is no exception. Harp expects the merger to help close that gap, an aspect of the plan that is winning over some critics. Emanuel Jones, chairman of Georgia's Legislative Black Caucus, says his "ears perked up" at talk of funding disparities, and he is co-sponsoring a resolution to study the merger's impact in detail. For now, the proposal is "not actually being considered by the [board of] regents," the only group with the authority to approve...