A new blue law bill was heard in front of the House Industry, Business, and Labor committee. The bill would prohibit businesses from being open from midnight to noon on Sundays with some exceptions.
Proponents say it is a pro worker bill that allows people to stay home to observe religious practices on Sundays. They also say it could also help small businesses like grocery stores that would be exempt from the bill.
The committee had some questions about the bill. Representative Ben Koppelman of West Fargo was concerned that the bill would drive more people to online shopping instead of supporting local businesses.
"i think I agree with the concept of it being good for a society. In practice, I don't see this bill getting us anywhere close to that. And I wonder how much of the genie we can put back into the bottle with the nature of online commerce and that distraction that we have."
The sponsor, Representative Heilman of Bismarck introduced an amendment to the bill. The committee took the bill and amendment in for review.