Do away with the blue laws

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As one lawmaker put it succinctly: State government should get out of the business of mandating when businesses can operate on Sunday.

The main problem is one of fairness: For instance, some counties are exempted from blue laws because they take in more than $900,000 in annual accommodations taxes. The laws have the perverse effect of hurting poorer counties and benefiting wealthier ones.

Small businesses, local governments and chambers of commerce across the state support the bill because of the blatant unfairness of the century-old laws, which are in effect in about 40 of the state's 46 counties. Merchants in smaller counties complain that they lose business to retailers in larger counties.

A recent State newspaper story recently cited the example of Columbiana Centre, which straddles Richland and Lexington counties. Richland County is exempt from the laws but Lexington is not. As a result, Dillard's — in Richland — can open an hour earlier than most of the rest of the mall.

The blue laws also are almost ridiculously inconsistent: The laws allow a consumer to buy a bikini or underwear — but not shorts — before 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to the State story.

An important point about the bill that will soon be considered by House lawmakers is that it while it would get rid of most of the blue laws, it would not allow the sale of alcohol on Sundays. It's probably best that the bill not address Sunday alcohol sales, one of the more contentious issues in the blue-laws controversy.

Getting rid of the blue laws may aid future economic development as well. Retailers may be more interested in investing in a community if sales are not restricted on Sunday.

Some lawmakers want to retain the blue laws out of respect for religious faith. That's an understandable concern, and so is the more generalized desire to preserve a day set aside for rest and spending time with one's family. A noteworthy provision in the bill would protect employees who object to working on Sundays for religious reasons.

Most of all, however, the blue laws are simply unfair. Most other states are moving toward eliminating them. South Carolina should do the same.