LANSING – It looks like residents will get the opportunity to purchase liquor before noon on Sunday after all now that the Legislature and Governor Jennifer Granholm have resolved their differences on the issue that led Granholm to veto an earlier version of the legislation.

The bill (HB 6224 ), which cleared the Senate on a 25-13 vote and then the House 81-21, omits language in the vetoed bill that would have allowed restaurants to sell and deliver liquor at events they cater off-site and granted liquor licenses to a handful of community colleges and Western Michigan University. Granholm objected to both measures in the original bill, but a Granholm spokesperson said Wednesday that the Senate-passed bill reflects the comprise negotiated between the administration, Legislature and stakeholders.

But the bill includes the other items lost in the vetoed bill. Liquor sales, now banned statewide before noon on Sundays unless a local government votes to allow them, would instead be legalized across the state unless a community voted to prohibit them.

The bill also would shorten the ban on liquor sales during the Christmas holiday. Instead of a prohibition on liquor sales from 9 p.m. December 24 through 7 a.m. December 26, the restriction would cover only the period from 11:59 p.m. December 24 through noon December 25.

And the bill would allow privately run retirement centers to obtain a liquor license with 20 such licenses available statewide.

The bill also would allow free wine and beer sampling at state wineries and breweries. Such samples would be limited to no more than three servings at up to 3 ounces per serving of beer or three servings at up to 2 ounces of wine. Customers would be limited to no more than three samples of beer or wine within a 24-hour period per licensed facility.

Sen. Alan Sanborn (R-Richmond), who initially indicated the issue would die after Granholm’s veto, said the new bill “represents a compromise between all parties.”

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said officials tried to meet Granholm’s concerns.

“She had some specific issues in her veto letter that we tried to address,” he said. “We worked with the interest groups to find the best possible medium we could find.”

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