Sunday alcohol sales bill is dead, key legislator says

The Sunday alcohol sales bill is dead for this session, according to the key legislator behind the measure.

That's what the bill's author, Rep. Tom Dermody, R-LaPorte, said Tuesday morning before the Indiana House convened.

Dermody said he doesn't have the votes to move the bill to the Senate, largely because it includes new restrictions on the way alcohol could be sold at drug stores, big-box stores and other retailers.

The bill passed the House 47-45 last week after the restrictions were added in an amendment.

The bill faces a deadline for action on Wednesday, but Dermody said he would not be calling the bill for a vote.

The measure was intended to lift Indiana's 80-year-old ban on Sunday retail alcohol sales. Indiana is the only state to have such a ban.