TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas is moving closer to repealing a ban on happy hours at bars, taverns, clubs and restaurants.
The state House gave first-round approval Tuesday to a bill repealing a law barring businesses that sell alcoholic beverages by the drink from setting different prices at different times of the day.
The measure advanced on a voice vote with little debate. That struck some House members as unusual, given the state’s decades of prohibition and it status as the place where Carrie Nation became famous for smashing saloons.
But supporters said the free market ought to dictate when drink prices rise and drop. Also, they said, the existing law encourages merchants to offer cheap drinks all day, rather than just a few hours.
Kansas has banned happy hour since 1985.
