Indiana’s last-in-the-nation ban on selling alcohol on Sundays is lifted

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(NETWORK IN) With the stroke of a pen — actually six pens — Governor Holcomb repealed a ban that’s been Indiana law since statehood. Starting March 4, you’ll be able to buy alcohol from noon to eight.

House Speaker Brian Bosma says the ban on Sunday sales was the very first law Indiana passed after statehood. An exemption for travelers was repealed in 1853. The battle to join the rest of the nation in scrapping the ban has stretched on for decades, but never passed even one house of the legislature, much less both. Liquor stores fought the change for years, predicting the competition with supermarkets would hurt their business. But liquor stores abruptly reversed course last fall after a special commission reviewing Indiana’s alcohol laws recommended the change, and the bill sailed through the legislature with little opposition.

Even Holcomb opposed repeal in his 2016 campaign, but he’s been signaling his support since last fall. He says consumers want it, and other than continuing the way things have always been done, he says there was no reason not to allow Sunday sales.