Direct wine shipments on deck for Md. Senate vote

Maryland lawmakers are making last-ditch efforts to lift the state’s ban on wine shipments before the 2010 General Assembly session ends next month.

Bills that would end the ban remain tied up in committee, but Sen. Robert A. Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, has managed to induce floor debate on the issue with an amendment to an unrelated bill that would permit wine shipments. The Senate plans to take up the issue Tuesday.