Privatization lite proposed for liquor sales

Pennsylvania’s long slog out of the dark ages of alcohol sales is slowly but surely coming to an end.

Granted, it’s been a slow drip. But the taps might be about to open a lot wider.

The House Liquor Control Committee recently voted to give flexibility and convenience in terms of where they people buy their booze.

Over the past few years, serious cracks have formed in the façade of alcohol sales in the Keystone State.

First it was beer in supermarkets, but of course only in separate sections of the store.

Then the state added wine to the fare at your local Wegmans, Giant and Acme, with the same reservations, of course.

With beer distributors crying foul, our state legislators offered them a bigger bite of the pie as well, allowing them to sell beer in quantities other than a case.

Now comes a thunderbolt in alcohol sales. One of the measures passed would allow liquor – not just beer and wine – to be sold in as many as 12,000 retail stores and supermarkets.

It’s drawing heavy opposition, as almost every push against the state store system does, by the union that represents 5,000 state liquor store workers.

House Bill 438 would allow consumers to buy four unopened bottles of booze – gin, vodka, whiskey, bourbon – at the same restaurants, hotels and grocery stores that already have these special licenses to sell beer and wine.

For the privilege, the stores would fork over $2,000 for the liquor license.

If all the stores with the current license were to do so, it would mean an additional $21.8 million. In a state staring at a $3 billion deficit, that is cause for a toast.

And it would not eliminate the state stores, something opposed by Gov. Tom Wolf, and of course the unions.

Perhaps even a bigger break with the past is House Bill 991. It would establish a completely new entity in the Pennsylvania alcohols sales bonanza, that being a private store that could sell both wine and liquor in the same location.

That would provide a direct threat to the state stores, which up until this point is the only place a consumer can go to purchase both wine and liquor.

Republicans have for years been pushing to get Pennsylvania out of the booze business altogether, saying it has no business being in “business,” let alone running a monopoly.

They argue that private enterprise can do the job better, more efficiently and at the same time deliver want consumers want, more convenience and better pricing.

Gov. Wolf has made clear his stance.

He does not want to blow up the current system, no doubt with all those union jobs, who usually vote Democratic, in the back of his head. Instead he has been in favor of updating the system and modernizing the existing state stores.

At least one Republican is raising a caution flag at his latest push toward privatization. Rep. Scott Petri, R-Bucks, fears price hikes with the introduction of private enterprise, which would not have to play by the same pricing rules as the Liquor Control Board.

He also believes the push is a giveaway, saying the upfront fees should be much higher.

On the other hand, Rep. Mike Reese, R-Westmoreland, prime sponsor of House Bill 438, envisions it as a way of delivering something the public clearly wants, a one-stop shopping scenario where customers could buy beer, wine and liquor under one roof, something that has long been merely a dream in this state.

The liquor bills how will be taken up by the full House, and face another debate in the Senate.

Republicans control both chambers of the Legislature. They’ve been clearly in the privatization camp before, it will be interesting to see if they are willing to get behind this plan, sort of a privatization lite.

They would deliver something their constituents want – one-stop shopping, while not having to answer for the possible loss of thousands of good-paying state jobs.

Such is the ever-changing state of alcohol sales in Pennsylvania.

It’s enough to drive you to drink.