Sunday liquor sales seen as way to fund treatment programs

Programs to treat and prevent alcohol dependency need additional financial support to meet the needs of Minnesotans, said Dana Farley, an alcohol and drug policy specialist for the Department of Health.

HF1091 would help by requiring sales taxes generated by Sunday liquor sales to go toward chemical dependency treatment programs, Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul), told the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee Thursday.

Rep. Rick Hansen

Sponsored by Hansen, the bill was approved as amended and referred to the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee. Its companion, SF976, sponsored by Sen. Matt Klein (DFL-Mendota Heights), awaits action by the Senate Taxes Committee.

The bill would require the Revenue Department to annually estimate the state’s tax revenue generated by the alcohol gross receipts, sales, and alcohol excise taxes. Those proceeds would be appropriated to the Department of Human Services to fund addiction treatment and prevention programs.

The funding would be “distributed … proportionally” among programs and services currently supported by the department instead of through grants, Hansen said.

Estimates of how much revenue could be generated by Sunday sales range from $400,000 to $10 million annually, Hansen said.

During floor debate about the legalization of Sunday off-sale liquor sales, some members asserted that there was a chance liquor stores wouldn’t generate any additional revenue, Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester) said.

Regardless of how much revenue is generated, anything that could increase treatment funding “is a pretty good idea,” she added.