Did Sunday sales of beer and wine just get a green light? | Political Insider

More at Atlanta Journal..: “Doings in the first few minutes of the 2009 session of the Legislature:

— One of the bigger surprises of the day comes from the lobbying field. The GOP team of Clint Austin, Tony Simon and Sam Choate has been hired to help push through legislation to permit communities to hold referendums on Sunday sales of alcohol.

The Georgia Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores, is footing the bill.

Both Simon and Choate are extremely close to House Speaker Glenn Richardson. Austin was essential to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in his defeat of Ralph Reed in 2006. The rules of lobbying are this:

Your support of a cause doesn’t necessarily constitute an endorsement by your close friends in the Legislature. But a smart lobbyist won’t take positions that would make his lawmaker friends angry.”