CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Voters in at least 18 West Virginia counties will decide Tuesday whether to allow for earlier Sunday alcohol sale times for brunch at local bars and restaurants.
In March, the Legislature approved and sent to Governor Earl Ray Tomblin SB 298, also called the “brunch bill,” clearing the way for Sunday alcohol sales beginning at 10 a.m. at restaurants, wineries, breweries and distilleries if voters in individual counties approved of the change.
The current law prohibits those sales before 1 p.m. on Sundays.
The counties on the list for “brunch bill” consideration during the 2016 General Election include the following:
Barbour
Berkeley
Cabell
Harrison
Greenbrier
Jefferson
Marion
Marshall
Mineral
Monongalia
Morgan
Nicholas
Ohio
Pocahontas
Putnam
Tucker
Upshur
Wayne
Many cities, though, have not waited for the county referendums during the November general election.
In Jefferson County, Shepherdstown was the first to make the change, and push back alcohol sales to 10 a.m. Sundays, through the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program.
Cities that moved quickly to follow suit included Beckley, Morgantown, Clarksburg, Charleston, Bridgeport, Martinsburg, Bluefield, South Charleston, Lewisburg, Charles Town and Ranson among others.
The West Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association estimated that every $1 spent in West Virginia restaurants generated 64 cents in sales to the state’s economy and that the restaurant industry amounts to about 10 percent of state employment statewide.
Opponents have viewed it is as “another shot at the Sabbath.”