LANSING – A top senator said Tuesday after Governor Jennifer Granholm vetoed a bill that would have made wide-ranging changes to liquor laws, including legalizing Sunday liquor sales before noon, that the Senate “most likely will not revisit the issue.”

Granholm’s veto of HB 6007 , first reported by Gongwer News Service, came as a result of other measures in the bill. Granholm said she supported repealing the ban on liquor sales before noon on Sundays, reducing the Christmas holiday liquor sales ban and other provisions.

But the governor said she objected to portions of the bill that would have allowed restaurants and other food establishments to sell and deliver liquor at off-premises locations, authorized liquor licenses at several community colleges and Western Michigan University’s Grand Rapids campus and permitted free samples of wine up to nine ounces.

The bill was part of the 2010-11 budget package and was projected to bring in $9.1 million in new revenue to the state.

Granholm spent most of her veto message on the question of allowing food establishments to sell liquor at off-premises locations, saying it would run afoul of federal case law requiring in-state and out-of-state retailers to compete on equal terms.

“While this change undoubtedly would benefit the restaurant industry, it also would be highly detrimental to many small businesses currently authorized to sell alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption by consumers,” she said. “If the bill is enacted, in-state food establishments would be authorized to deliver alcoholic liquor directly to consumers, but out-state food establishments would not.”

Granholm called the language allowing liquor licenses for specific community colleges and WMU a “special act” vulnerable to a constitutional challenge. And she said the free sample language allowing for wine samples up to nine ounces was too high.

“I look forward to working with the Legislature to enact revised legislation that addresses the concerns raised while continuing to benefit consumers and businesses in Michigan,” the governor said.

Asked if the governor’s veto might undermine the chance for returning to the proposals Granholm supported, Granholm press secretary Liz Boyd said, “We saw how quickly lawmakers were willing to work before they went on break, so clearly they have an interest, and the governor supports most of the provisions of this legislation.”

But Sen. Alan Sanborn (R-Richmond), chair of the Senate Economic Development and Regulatory Reform, said he expected the Senate would not return to the bill.

“I am extremely disappointed that the governor has turned her back on this opportunity to help Michigan businesses and boost our economy,” he said in a statement. “This measure passed both chambers of the Legislature and received overwhelming support from both Democrats and Republicans, but the governor ignored this consensus. We most likely will not revisit this issue. That doesn’t bode well for the thousands of bars, restaurants, grocers, and winemakers across the state.”

Sanborn did not explain further why he thought it unlikely the Legislature would return to the issue and he could not be reached.

Organizations that supported the bill denounced Granholm’s decision.

Andy Deloney of the Michigan Restaurant Association said Granholm’s legal analysis of the off-premises sale/delivery issue was flawed.

“This veto apparently kills any hope of relief that thousands of Michigan breweries, wineries, wholesalers, restaurants, taverns and grocery stores had been begging for in this bill,” he said in a statement.

Lance Binoniemi, executive director of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association urged the Legislature to either override the veto or pass a new bill with only the Sunday sales legalization language.

“The package was negotiated by legislators with the input of the hospitality industry, and meant to give a much-needed shot in the arm to many of our businesses,” Binoniemi said in a statement. “The governor’s veto is baffling, especially considering certain proposals of the bill would have added ongoing revenue sources to the struggling state budget through several new permits and licensing fees.”

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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