Just My Opinion - By Mary Kilen
A New Session Is Underway
The legislature is one week into their new session for the year and it is guaranteed to be a busy one. It always is. As always, there will be bills that make sense, bills that are necessary, and more than likely a few that will make you scratch your head wondering why.
Today as I was writing my column, one bill already caught my eye. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday on a house bill that would seek to reinstate the blue laws. Blue laws were repealed in 2019. For those that might be new here, the Blue Laws prohibited certain businesses from being open from midnight on Saturday until noon on Sundays.
When repealed, it was recognized that these laws were outdated. The cities along the state’s borders were most vocal about the laws that at that time were perceived to give an advantage to the businesses across those same borders.
The irony of all of this is that no one makes a business be open on Sundays. If you visit small towns and even business districts in larger cities, you will find some businesses open and others closed. Some might be at the decision of corporate offices, while others are definitely a local decision.
The arguments have been made on both sides of this issue multiple times. I just don’t know that I understand why the legislature has decided to take this up again this session, eight years later.
As someone whose job is not a traditional Monday-Friday 9 to 5, I think the decision is best made by the individual business owner as to when or if they open on Sundays.
This may be one of those bills that never makes it out of committee hearings, but it may also be one that goes to the floor for a vote. It will be interesting to see how this bill fares in the hearings. I will be interested to see what the arguments are for or against this bill as well.