Corbett study recommends privatizing liquor stores
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania would benefit financially from privatizing the state-run system of selling wine and liquor, a new study commissioned by Gov. Corbett found. The report, conducted by Public Financial Management Inc., found that the state could take in up to $1.6 billion if it auctions off both the retail and wholesale operations of the state Liquor Control Board (LCB).
Corbett study recommends privatizing liquor stores
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania would benefit financially from privatizing the state-run system of selling wine and liquor, a new study commissioned by Gov. Corbett found.
The report, conducted by Public Financial Management Inc., found that the state could take in up to $1.6 billion if it auctions off both the retail and wholesale operations of the state Liquor Control Board (LCB).
Asked about the nearly 300-page study earlier Tuesday, Corbett said it only reinforced his belief that the state should shed its role of selling liquor.
“We should not be in the business of selling alcohol,” Corbett said, noting what he called the “inherent conflict” of having the same agency – the LCB – be in charge of both regulating the sale of liquor, and pushing to sell as much as it can.
Over the summer, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) introduced a bill calling for privatizing both the retail and wholesale operations of the LCB. With so many other big-ticket items on the agenda this fall, including school vouchers and a proposed drilling impact fee, it is questionable whether the legislature will have enough time to tackle the liquor issue this fall.
There is also one other problem: the Senate.
Over the summer, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) said he believes the state should stay in the liquor business for now, knocking some of the wind out of the momentum for privatizing. And privatizing is fiercely opposed by unions and many Democrats.
But Turzai has a friend in the administration.
Corbett on Tuesday called Turzai’s proposal “the place to start.”
The next step: the governor and his top staff will the study and evaluate the options contained in the report and decide how to best disburse revenue from license sales. One area that could benefit from privatization revenue: the state’s roads and bridges, the administration said.
“Our system of state stores harkens back to a time government thought it knew best what was good for us,” Corbett said, noting that the Liquor Control Board was formed nearly 80 years ago following the end of Prohibition. “History has shown – as it always will – that the people, not government bureaucrats, know best how to live their lives.”
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I'm certainly not politically conservative, but I am so on board w/ this. The current system is a damn joke.
what about the jobs of all the State Store employees?— oliver north
Comment removed.- THANK YOU. I'm tired of hearing about all the people that are going to be out of work. The stores aren't going anywhere. If anything people will buy more and create demand for more workers. — jlcts2
- i'd rather have the commonwealth make profits on the state store system than sell it, lose the revenue, and raise taxes (and if you think they'll ever cut spending i have some swampland in florida to sell you) — oliver north
- Comment removed.
- The state benefits more by selling. They unload all the salaries of the employees. NO MORE Pension for sales clerks. The state has less to cover with health care. SELL SELL SELL — thebaron
- Like the workers will be the first to get rehired? At what rate? Minimum wage and no benefits. People who have worked the stores for several years with gret experience will get zilch. But that's the repub way. Take away good-paying jobs, from people who PAY taxes on those wages, and cut the amount of tax money coming into the state. Just love how those who hate state employees believe they somehow contribute nothing, that their jobs are all free. They pay taxes just like the rest. They spend their wages in PA businesses and pay sales taxes. They pay the same property and school taxes as other PA residents. Just where do you think that loss in revenue will be made up when the workers are all furloughed and some brought back for minimum wage? — mike l
- it is a joke especially when you travel to different states and see liquor being sold in Rite Aids and Cvs'.
— Lancer255 - Comment removed.
- To quote Larry the Cable Guy - Git Er Done!— Bruno Sammartino
- When Terry Whats-her-name (Nutter's pal) was starting out a few years ago and going door to door to get her name on a ballot I (a Democrat) asked her one question: What do you think about getting rid of the State Stores?
Her reply was immediate and passionate "what about all the people who work there?"
Now I may be a Democrat but I still enjoy wine with my dinner and serving alcoholic drinks to my guests.
I thanked her but refused to sign anything having to do with someone who thinks those people at the State Stores work - they just collect pay checks - or who believes the state should protect me from myself - by insulting me. - How much does the state take in because they own the whole thing? I know they have the negotiating power to get liquor for dirt cheap prices, because if the suppliers don't agree to the low prices, they will lose the ability to sell to the entire population of PA. If the system makes money, why sell it? Just because it's archaic? If private liquor stores come in prices will go down, but then tax revenue for liquor sales will go down as well. It seems like we may be exchanging a windfall of money now for less money in tax revenue in the future.— throw_away
- This comment has been deleted.— Wildman Bill
- Comment removed.
