INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana House Committee on Public Policy has advanced a bill that would allow bars to sell discounted drinks for a few hours per day.

They’re better known as a “happy hour,” usually coming at the end of the workday.

Republican state Rep. Jake Teshka of South Bend says he proposed House Bill 1086 because he saw bars struggle to get customers to come back after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

The proposal would only allow bars and restaurants to have four hours per day of happy hour, or up to 15 hours per week. Happy hour would not be allowed to start after 10 p.m.

Time-limited alcoholic drink discounts have been outlawed in Indiana since 1985.

Rob Strong, the owner of The Whistle Stop Inn in downtown Indianapolis, said a happy hour would boost profits at his Indianapolis restaurant. “We have really good food here. I think our food sales would increase as well, and, usually when you discount a beer in hopes someone will buy a whiskey, or you discount a whiskey and hope someone buys a beer.”

Strong doesn’t think bringing back happy hour will contribute to binge drinking. He added, “You have Ubers and Lyfts that are readily available for rides. I don’t see a lot of drunk driving coming out of it.”

Opponents say encouraging people to drink more alcohol for cheaper prices will make it more likely someone will abuse it.

Lisa Hutcheson, director of the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, says over 2,000 people in 2023 were treated for alcohol abuse in Indiana. “In 2023 in Indiana, 817 people died because of impaired driving; that is 19% of all traffic deaths in our state.”

A spokesperson for Indiana State Police says the agency does not comment on legislation until it’s passed.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says it does not have a position on the proposal.

The bill also would allow people to carry out liquor sold in restaurants.

The next step for the measure would be to go to the full House for a vote. The Senate also would have to pass the measure before it would go to Gov. Eric Holcomb to sign into law.