Daily Herald Editorial

The Minnesota State Senate’s interest in a law that would allow Sunday liquor sales is a perfect example of pointless legislation.

On Wednesday, a Senate committee is scheduled to hear the bill, which would overturn Minnesota’s long-standing – as in more than a century old – law that forbids the sale of liquor on Sundays. What is interesting about the bill is that there is no apparent reason for it. There’s no groundswell of demand for Sunday liquor sales; Minnesotans have gotten along just fine without. Indeed, there’s significant opposition to the idea from liquor store owners. So how, between apathy and opposition, does a bill get a hearing? Hard to say. The sponsor was quoted last week as saying that some other senators think it’s a good idea. That’s not much of an endorsement.

There are times, many of them, when old ways need to change. There are also times, such as this one, when there’s simply no need. In a year when lawmakers have their hands more than full trying to fix a budget deficit, tinkering with the Sunday liquor law seems like a waste of time — and possibly political grandstanding when it is least needed.