Tennessee wine in grocery store bill headed to Gov. Bill Haslam

Monday, March 3, 2014

Arkansas-Tennessee Live Blog
photo A sign in a Kroger supermarket in Nashville urges shoppers to sign up for a group urging lawmakers to change state law that limits wine sales to liquor stores.

NASHVILLE - State senators on Monday popped the cork on a bill giving local voters the power to decide whether to allow wine sales in grocery stores.

Senators quickly concurred in minor House changes to the bill, voting 23-4 to send it to Gov. Bill Haslam, who is expected to sign it into law.

"This bill has been a long time coming," Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron of Murfeesboro, the bill's sponsor, told colleagues.

Ketron, who spent seven years trying to pass versions of the bill, said members of the Senate and House "actually listened to the people who want to purchase wine in the grocery stores."