On a 25 to 22 vote, the North Dakota Senate has voted to repeal the rest of the state’s blue law.
This means retailers can be open before noon on Sundays.
Two years ago, the Senate voted down the bill.
Sen. Shawn Vedaa (R-Velva) urged a "no" vote.
"If passed, this will probably allow the largest retailer in the state to throw away their keys," Vedaa said. "They open on every holiday. They require a lot of their employees to work those holidays. Vote 'red,' and maybe someone will be able to worship on Sunday."
Sen. Ray Holmberg (R-Grand Forks) argued that people can already shop on line any time of the day or night.
"What is left of the current blue laws are the remnants of English common law that stem back to the 16th century," Holmberg said. "We no longer have an English monarch telling us what to do. So we surely do not need their laws to keep doing so."
The bill had earlier passed the House.
"There's a lot of people like me, who go to church on Sunday, and go to brunch on Sunday, after church, and still have to wait another hour before they can run their errands," said Rep. Shannon Roers-Jones (R-Fargo), the bill's main sponsor.
Roers-Jones said the argument that people can shop on-line, any time, is a very good argument for the bill.
"We have local businesses that are obviously losing sales to on-line businesses that are open and available 24/7," Roers-Jones said. "Why would we want to take that flexibility away from local businesses to sell, when there are people that want to buy?"
The bill now goes to Gov. Doug Burgum.
