Texas: Bill proposes allowing beer and wine sales before noon on Sunday

Source: 12 News

Troy Kless

April 23, 2017

It’s fine for anyone 21 or older to buy beer or wine after noon on Sunday. But a Texas lawmaker wants to take away the time restraint.

Emily Elliott, a Lamar Institute of Technology student has worked at a convenience store in Kountze.

She’s rejected a customer for getting beer too early on Sunday morning.

“They get kind of upset in person when you tell them like, ‘Oh you have to wait until 12:00,'” Elliott said.

“They’ll always say ‘that’s so stupid, I don’t understand,’ but that’s just a rule they have,” Elliott said.

In this year’s state legislative session, House Bill 327 seeks to allow holders of beer and wine off-premise retailers to sell as early as 7:00 a.m.

Beaumont man Matthew Chance is all for the change.

“I don’t even understand why we can’t buy it after midnight, I don’t understand why there’s a time constraint at all on when we can buy something. To me, that’s more of a parental role than a governmental role,” Chance said.

Elliott says she’s indifferent about the proposal.

“I think for some people it would be better when they’re trying to go do something out in the morning and buy beer in the morning, but to me it wouldn’t make a big deal either way.”

The bill is currently sitting in the Licensing and Administrative Procedures committee.