Bill would remove state from liquor business
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HARRISBURG -- The Liquor Control Board is dead. Or so House Majority Leader Mike Turzai would like to proclaim.
Next week, Mr. Turzai plans to unveil a sweeping bill to kill off the state liquor system and replace it with private enterprise.
Although details remain unresolved -- such as how to keep small retailers from being shut out by chains -- the plan is already drawing fire from Democrats who say the current system works fine and provides a steady stream of state revenue.
Mr. Turzai, though, says government has no business selling alcohol.
The Bradford Woods Republican advocates auctioning hundreds of wholesale and retail store licenses while revamping the tax structure to ensure the state continues to profit from sales. He has estimated that the licenses could fetch as much as $2 billion, but opponents say an auction would draw far less than that.
"The numbers just don't add up," said Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia.
The votes don't, either, he contended. He does not believe that Mr. Turzai will be able to garner enough votes, even in a Republican-controlled statehouse, to push privatization through the Legislature.
In any case, lawmakers are on summer break, so no votes will be taken until September at the earliest.
Republicans have been trying for three decades to privatize the liquor stores but so far haven't been able to make it happen. The resolve is as strong as ever and Mr. Turzai is trying to sustain the momentum.
Gov. Tom Corbett, like Republican governors before him, favors privatization, too. He has commissioned the Philadelphia consulting firm PFM to study the benefits and drawbacks of turning over wine and spirit sales to private retailers. PFM's report is due later this month.
Mr. Evans, who opposes privatization, said neither Mr. Turzai nor anyone else has made a compelling argument for scrapping the current system, which provides a reliable revenue stream.
The state system, he said, kicks tens of millions of profits into Pennsylvania's coffers, provides good-paying, "family-sustaining" jobs and ensures that liquor is sold responsibly.
Liquor Control Board officials have consistently said the state stores provided excellent service and selection, as well as competitive prices. They also tout the agency's mission to sell liquor responsibly. The state store system has been in place in Pennsylvania since 1933, when Prohibition ended.
Last week, board officials announced that they had a banner year with sales for the 2010-11 fiscal year, setting a record at nearly $2 billion. That allowed the agency to transfer a record $496 million to the state treasury.
First Published July 9, 2011 12:00 am
