ATLANTA (AP) — In a battle of morality versus modernism, the Georgia Senate debated the issue of whether to sell alcohol at grocery and liquor stores on the Lord's Day for more than two hours before approving a proposal that would let local governments put the issue to voters.

The Senate voted 32-22 in favor of the measure.

The issue languished in the Senate rules committee for weeks before finally making it to the floor on Crossover Day — the 30th day of the General Assembly and the deadline by which bills must pass at least one legislative chamber to have a shot at becoming law.

Religious groups have pressured lawmakers to kill the bill in the General Assembly before it hit Georgia communities.