Nearly three years after the state legislature passed a bill allowing local governments to approve Sunday morning alcohol sales, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has passed its own version of what’s known as the Brunch Bill. 

In a 3-2 vote that followed hours of public comment spread over three different meetings, a measure that would have allowed Sunday morning alcohol sales failed in Jackson County April 16. 

It’s one of those issues that garner headlines and controversy but really shouldn’t.

I’m talking about the Brunch Bill, the law passed by the state legislature that allows businesses to sell alcohol starting at 10 a.m. on Sunday if they want. Many municipalities and counties around the state have supported the law, deciding to let local businesses make that decision for themselves.

A second public hearing on whether to allow Sunday morning alcohol sales in Jackson County will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 16, at the Cashiers/Glenville Recreation Center in Cashiers, and attendance is expected to be significant. 

If the two Jackson County commissioners considering a “yes” vote on Sunday morning alcohol sales were looking to the community to encourage that point of view, the crowd that turned out for a public hearing on the issue March 19 certainly didn’t deliver. 

It was déjà vu all over again in Maggie Valley, where the Board of Aldermen once again passed the controversial Brunch Bill ordinance by a vote of 3-2, just like it was on Dec. 11.

After voting down the measure just a couple of months ago, the Bryson City Board of Aldermen is now on its way to reversing its decision on the controversial Brunch Bill.

An ordinance that would have allowed Sunday morning alcohol sales to begin in Dillsboro died for lack of a motion during the Jan. 8 town meeting.

As the town’s former police chief and also as a woman of faith, Maggie Valley Mayor Saralyn Price said last month that she couldn’t support the town’s proposed Brunch Bill ordinance that would allow alcohol sales to begin at 10 a.m. instead of noon on Sundays.

Sunday morning mimosas aren’t yet on the table in Maggie Valley because a proposed ordinance that would allow the sales of alcohol before noon on Sundays is.