GOP delay on LCB? Say it ain't so, Joe!
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It's hard to believe state Sen. Joe Scarnati was elected unanimously last November to lead Senate Republicans in Harrisburg.
In fact, it's hard to believe he's a Republican. The voters of Jefferson County might want to double-check.
Other than the commitment to abolition and desegregation that propelled the Grand Old Party through its first century, its other nearly sacred, unifying thought has long been the old adage, "That government is best which governs least."
And that government is not governing as little as it could if it's running -- pretty poorly -- a chain of liquor stores.
That's why Rep. Mike Turzai introduced a bill in the state House last month that would abolish the state government's monopoly on wine and spirits and return it to its proper role of simply regulating the alcohol business. This change would bring a one-time windfall to our bone-dry state coffers through the sale of retail licenses (though probably less than Mr. Turzai's optimistic $2 billion), and it would be an ongoing boon to consumers in the form of more stores, greater selection and 21st-century shopping hours.
The only other state with as tight a control on alcohol sales as Pennsylvania is Utah, where 62 percent of residents are (theoretically teetotaling) Mormons. Despite a whopping 86 percent markup on alcohol, Utah's budget deficit is forcing closure of some stores and reduced hours at others. Republicans there are seeking to "privatize" the system by limiting state control to wholesale distribution -- a measure widely criticized for not going far enough.
Privatization is so sensible that one of Pennsylvania's most hidebound bastions of big-government liberalism has endorsed it! I'm referring to the Post-Gazette's editorial board, of course. Funny how a well-priced bottle of Cotes du Rhone can bring people together, isn't it?
And we Keystone State voters have come together on this issue: Two-thirds of Pennsylvanians support privatization, according to a December 2010 poll from Quinnipiac University, and Gov. Tom Corbett won having campaigned strongly against the government's liquor monopoly.
So what would prompt Mr. Scarnati, the Senate president pro tem, to scoff at a fellow Republican's government-trimming bill?
Timing, he said. Before auctioning off store licenses, the Legislature should "take the handcuffs off" the current system, "get the bottom line better, and you'll get a better price" for each license.
So ... because the state has done a poor job in retail sales, it should be given another big, voter-defying crack at retail sales?
First Published August 1, 2011 12:00 am
