If beer distributors thought they were going to be able to open several stores on Sundays sometime soon, they thought wrong.

The state Senate recently voted 40-8 against a bill that proposed to allow beer distributors to open on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. "We were just asking for five additional hours [each week], and that still was too much for some [senators]," said Ken Varhola, spokesman for Sen. Sean Logan, D-Monroeville, who proposed the bill.

Logan was disappointed with the vote, Varhola said, because he thought not being allowed to sell beer on Sundays denied the beer industry a level playing field.

Although Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, said he understood the purpose of the bill and thought the fairness idea made sense, he still voted against the bill for other reasons he found to be more important. "I represent a university town, and one of the main problems is binge drinking. ... Making alcohol even more accessible wouldn't be a smart move," he said.

Corman added that if he did not represent a university town, he would have voted for the bill, but because of law enforcement problems in State College, he felt the responsibility to vote against it. "We don't need any more alcohol-related crimes," Corman said.

However, the State College Police Department did not think Sunday beer sales would increase the alcohol problems that already exist in State College.

Sgt. Mark Argiro said even if people cannot buy beer on Sundays, they can buy it before. "If people are desperate enough to get liquor, they will stock up over the weekend," Argiro said.

Because people can stock up and even buy beer at some other places on Sundays, Varhola said he does not understand why allowing beer distributors to sell beer on Sundays is such a big problem. "It's not like you can't get beer on Sundays, so we're not really doing anything new," he said.

Varhola added that restaurants, taverns and golf courses that meet a 30 percent food requirement are allowed to sell beer on Sundays.

Ten percent of state liquor stores are already allowed to sell liquor on Sundays, and that might be a reason for the increase in liquor sales, Varhola said. Liquor sales are up 10 percent, and beer sales are down 10 percent.

However, he said because liquor and beer buyers are different, selling beer on Sundays would not take away sales from liquor because not everyone who buys liquor buys beer. "They are certainly different customers. Someone who would buy a bottle of wine isn't the same as folks who are going to buy a six pack," Varhola said.

Logan will re-enter the Sunday sales bill in January when the next legislation session begins, he said.

Once Logan introduces the bill, he plans to meet with people in the House of Representatives who did not agree with the bill before so they can try to come to some agreement.

Logan also plans on speaking with all "interested players" of the bill to gain more support for the bill, he said.

Corman said those who are pushing for the Sunday sales bill need to work on the votes because many people opposed it the first time.

However, he added that in the past, some bills did poorly at first but were passed the next time. "It looks hard, but you never know," Corman said.