Radio Update Report 6:30pm (Audio) - 01/27/2010
Air Date:01/27/2010
A bill allowing all types of alcohol to be sold 365 days a year passed the House Commerce Committee today. Current law prohibits the sell of liquor on Sundays, Memorial Day and Christmas Day.
House Bill 1002 also changes who can sell packaged alcohol. There is no minimum age requirement to sell packaged liquor if alcohol sales are less than 50 percent of a business's total sales. Representative Chuck Turbiville of Deadwood is a sponsor of the bill.
"If you have a convenience store and you've got some 14 or 12 years old, they could be the only individual on the premise and by existing law be allowed to sell alcohol," Turbiville says. "We want to change that."
House Bill 1002 requires that someone 21 years or older be on site wherever alcohol is sold.
The Senate Transportation committee is considering legislation to increase that gas tax, excise taxes and licensing fees. Senator Mike Vehle of Mitchell says roads in South Dakota are in desperate need of repair. Vehle says Senate Bill One raises the gas tax by three cents in May 2010 and three cents in May 2012. He says the current rate is no longer enough.
"Currently what that $0.22 bought in 1999 now buys 13.5 cents of roadway maintenance so we have lost almost half, about 40 percent of our ability to maintain our roads," Vehle says.
Vehle says Senate bill One also raises the excise tax on vehicle sales from three percent to four percent. Registration fees for standard cars would increase by $18. Opponents of the bill say an economic downturn is not the time to raise any taxes. The Senate Transportation Committee will vote on Senate Bill One on Monday.
Member stations can download audio here.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
