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RALEIGH (MCT) — The state Senate voted preliminarily Wednesday to make it easier for people to go bar-hopping in North Carolina.

The bill, which passed 37-10, eliminates a competitive advantage that liquor-serving restaurants enjoy over traditional bars.

The bill removes a rule imposing a three-day waiting period before a customer can go into a bar or nightclub in North Carolina. The law classifies establishments that sell liquor as "private clubs," which can allow only members and their guests inside.

With passage of the bill, new customers would still have to purchase an annual membership, usually for a nominal fee, but there would be no waiting period before it activates.

Restaurants that sell liquor don't have the membership requirement so long as at least 30 percent of their gross revenue comes from food and non-alcoholic drinks. As a result, many bars, nightclubs and dance clubs in the state operate as restaurants during the day.

A lobbyist for the restaurant industry has said his industry will ask for its alcohol restrictions to be reduced if the bars get their three-day wait rescinded.

Tourism executives from Raleigh and Charlotte have sought to eliminate the three-day wait because it often frustrates tourists who want to visit bars while in town to attend conventions, Carolina Panthers football games, Carolina Hurricanes hockey games and other such events.

State Sen. Julia Boseman, a Wilmington Democrat who pushed the legislation through the Senate, said some Wilmington bars use the rule to unfairly keep out Marines from Camp Lejeune.

North Carolina's Christian Action League lobbied against the bill. The socially conservative organization opposes efforts to loosen alcohol laws.

The Senate is scheduled to take a final vote on the measure today. If it passes without change, it will go to the governor for her signature.

But Sen. Phil Berger, the leader of the Senate Republicans, may try to amend the bill. If so, the Rockingham County lawmaker would restrict the law change to counties with a population of 150,000 or more as of the 2000 U.S. Census, and 160,000 or more as of the 2010 Census.

This would be to help smaller communities, which want to limit the spread of bars, Berger said, but still help the hospitality industry in the larger metros.

Berger's potential amendment would apply to Guilford, Forsyth. Cumberland, Buncombe, Durham, Gaston, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Onslow and Wake counties.

If Berger's amendment were to pass, the bill would have to return to the state House for a concurrence vote before it could go to the governor.