Privatizing PA Liquor StoresFox news Reports 

State lawmakers in PA ponder the idea of

making liquor stores private

State stores could be made private if Republican lawmakers have their way

 

HARRISBURG - When you want to buy a bottle of wine or liquor, the state store is  

your destination. But, the way wine & liquor are sold in Pennsylvania  

could change, if state Republicans have their way.

Some lawmakers want to privatize state stores, making wine and spirit  

sales independent of the state. They say it could bring in billions of  

dollars & help bridge the budget gap.

Hearings are being held by the Senate Law and Justice Committee to  

gather information on all opinions.

"Since the revenue seems to be part of the driving force here, we need to get a

good handle as to all the pluses and minuses, pros and cons, not only socially

but economically," says Sen. John Lippy of Allegheny & Washington Counties.

The Senators are hearing testimony from professionals and research groups

who've studied the effects of state stores going private in other states.

"What we found is that states that controlled alcohol markets experienced higher

alcohol involved fatality rates amongst the legal age population and the same or

higher alcohol fatality rates amongst the underage population," says Antony Davies,

Ph.D., Duquesne University.

"When people drink more, more violence occurs, when people drink more, more

drunk driving occurs, we can look at that anywhere in the world & it holds up," says

Dr. Ted Miller of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

"Philosophically, is alcohol the business of the government? No, I don't think so,

but I also believe we should look at it with due diligence, and look at all the revenue," says Sen. Pippy.

More hearings will be held to address other concerns like state employee job loss and

enforcement. Governor Tom Corbett supports making state stores private, but past

republican governors have too, and have not been able to get the measure passed.

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