Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett will announce a plan to sell the wholesale and retail operations of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to private owners, according to several groups who have met recently with the Republican official.
Groups with a stake in the liquor market have met with government officials,
the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. And although Corbett hasn't put anything in writing, the administration reportedly is leaning toward an “all-out attack” on the state liquor control system that has existed since Prohibition, one businessman who met with aides said.
Corbett spokesman Kevin Hartley said a proposal will be released soon, possibly before the governor gives his annual budget presentation on Feb. 5. However, he noted Corbett has been behind privatizing Pennsylvania's liquor sales since he first took office.
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The governor sees a conflict in the Liquor Control Board's mission of selling and regulating alcohol, and Corbett believes private industry can do the sales job better and offer lower consumer prices.
He has not spoken much about the issue, leaving the discussion of privatization to Republicans in the legislature, but he is nearly ready to announce his plan sources said, and put Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley in charge of the transition.
People who have met with administration officials said Corbett may push to auction off the Liquor Control Board's wholesale and retail operations, similar to a plan Republican House Majority Leader Mike Turzai proposed last year in a bill.
The plan would also change the state's beer sales. Currently, beer distributors can sell only by the case or keg, and beer sales aren't allowed in grocery, convenience, or big-box stores, but if the state privatizes the operations, beer could be sold at more locations.
Corbett's plan will likely face General Assembly opposition, since lawmakers have refused similar plans in the past. However, his proposal is the first one by a governor since former Republican Gov. Tom Ridge backed privatizing liquor sales. Opponents say privatizing would create social and financial problems.
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Wendell W. Young IV, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, which represents 3,000 state store workers, said he hasn't been called to hear Corbett's plans.
“Some people have worked for the system for two or three decades - and they don't even talk to us about it?" Young said. "I'd say that is a pretty cold and callous position to take."
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