The Latest: Indiana Senate backs Sunday alcohol sales bill

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Latest on a proposal to legalize Sunday carryout alcohol sales in Indiana (all times local):

3:05 p.m.

A bill legalizing Sunday carryout alcohol sales in Indiana is on its way to the governor and could take effect soon.

The state Senate voted 38-10 Thursday to give final legislative approval to repealing Indiana's Sunday alcohol sales ban that's been in place since the Prohibition era nearly a century ago.

Gov. Eric Holcomb said earlier Thursday he has a pen ready and "won't let too many Sundays pass" before signing the bill.

The Indiana House approved the bill last week after an amendment making it effective immediately after being signed by the governor, rather than July 1.

Lawmakers for decades have debated ending the ban, but those proposals all foundered amid squabbling among interest groups. That abruptly changed this year with Republican legislative leaders endorsing the change.

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11:20 a.m.

Gov. Eric Holcomb says he "won't let too many Sundays pass" before signing a bill that would overturn a decades-old Indiana law banning carryout alcohol sales on that day.

Holcomb's remarks Thursday come hours before what is expected to be a final state Senate vote to send the historic bill to his desk. Holcomb says he has a pen ready.

Lawmakers for decades have debated ending the Prohibition-era ban on retail Sunday alcohol sales. But those proposals all foundered amid squabbling by interest groups.

That abruptly changed this year with measures soaring through both chambers of the Legislature.

The House even made a change, making it effective immediately after it is signed.

The Senate must take one final vote, signing off on that change before it goes to Holcomb.