Visitors to room 450 of the state Capitol could see history being made last week.

That was the room where a Senate committee chaired by Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, held a hearing on legislation to pave the way for grocery and convenience stores to sell beer and wine on Sundays.

This has long been an issue of Georgia politics where the Christian conservatives have been firmly in command. While they have had to give ground on most other alcohol-related issues, the church people have always been able to stop legislation that would legalize Sunday package sales.

That may not be the case much longer. As they considered the fate of SB 10, Miller's committee heard testimony from the folks who always show up to support Sunday sales: Jim Tudor for the convenience store owners, Kathy Kuzava for the grocery store interests, Horace Hamilton of Kroger's Georgia division.

What was interesting about the hearing was the fact that not a single person spoke in opposition to the bill - no one from the Christian Coalition or the Georgia Baptist Convention or any similar group.

SB 10 won easy approval from the Senate committee; the only no vote came from Sen. Jim Butterworth, R-Cornelia. Jerry Luquire of the Georgia Christian Coalition later conceded that the bill will be passed by the full Senate and soon after by the House of Representatives.

Luquire said in a Friday e-mail: "The Georgia Christian Coalition today said it was ending its three-year legislative battle to prevent retail beer, wine and whiskey sales on Sunday, but did express appreciation that Senate Bill 10 would forbid Sunday sales until after church on Sunday ... The Senate will vote next week and the GCC expects fewer than 12 senators to support their position."

Just like that, an interest group that had traditionally been very influential in Georgia politics found that it no longer had very much power.

It was a process that took a long time to develop. Almost every other state has long since legalized Sunday package sales (we are one of three remaining holdouts).

Georgia for years has been bleeding retail business in border cities like Columbus, Valdosta and Augusta as people who want beer or wine on Sunday drive across the state line to purchase it. The new law would put a stop to that.

There will also be some tax benefit to the state. Jay Hibbard of the national Distilled Spirits Council estimated that Sunday sales of spirits alone would generate between $3.4 and $4.8 million in new tax revenue for Georgia.

When you're a legislator worrying about how you'll make up for the loss of more than $1 billion in federal stimulus funds, every little bit of extra revenue helps.

A change in the governor's office helped push the legislation along. Unlike his predecessor, new Gov. Nathan Deal already has said that if the General Assembly passes a Sunday sales bill, he will not veto it.

It's also a matter of local government control. SB 10 merely authorizes cities and counties that already allow the sale of beer, wine or liquor to hold referendums in which citizens would decide whether they want to allow those sales on Sundays as well. Every community can decide for itself what it wants to do on this issue.

In the end, this is a simple matter of fairness.

I don't attend Baptist Church services on Sunday, but I have many friends and colleagues who do. I respect their right to practice their faith and I would vigorously oppose any suggestion that there should be a law preventing them from going to church on Sundays.

That same consideration should be extended to those who choose other activities. If I should be in a grocery store on a Sunday afternoon and want to purchase a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer, it's silly to have a law that says I can't do it or that prevents my local government from allowing me to vote on the question.

In a radio interview last week, Deal explained why he wouldn't veto a bill that would allow referendums on Sunday package sales: "Well, I don't drink. I simply believe in democracy."

I think that sums it up very well.

Tom Crawford is the editor of The Georgia Report, an Internet news service that covers government and politics in Georgia. His column appears Wednesdays and on gainesvilletimes.com.