House Bill 11 would privatize the wholesale and retail operations of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, bringing the state into line with most U.S. states. The legislation is also aimed at ending "border bleed" - revenue lost when Pennsylvanians travel elsewhere for better deals or a larger selection of booze.
"I don't know about you, but having to blow into a tube to get wine out of an expensive kiosk in a grocery store is not my idea of convenience," said Republican state Rep. Justin Simmons, of Lehigh County, who joined Turzai yesterday. He was referring to the wine vending machines in select grocery stores, which have been plagued by service errors and which require a customer to complete a breath test to buy wine.
A Quinnipiac University poll last month showed that Pennsylvania voters support selling state liquor stores, 69 percent to 25 percent. The House and Senate are both controlled by Republicans, and Gov. Corbett, a Republican, is a strong proponent of privatizing the industry.
But Democrats and public-sector unions plan to mount fierce opposition to Turzai's bill, perhaps with the help of teetotaling Republicans whose socially conservative views clash with the prospect of cheap, plentiful booze.
The president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, Wendell Young IV, whose union represents about 2,500 liquor-store employees, said there is no guarantee that private sellers wouldn't mark up liquor and wine prices even higher than the state's 30 percent PLCB markup and 18 percent state liquor tax.
About 5,000 union and nonunion workers could lose their jobs as a result of privatization, Young said. Turzai's bill includes employment support for displaced workers, but Young said that private retail outlets are unlikely to hire them.
"There are 5,000 jobs at stake," Young said. "It's outright insulting that he would present this to the public and expect people to swallow it."
The state House doesn't reconvene until September, but the House Liquor Control Committee, chaired by Republican state Rep. John Taylor, of Northeast Philadelphia, is planning to hold three hearings on Turzai's bill over the summer.
