Doesn't the state government in PA actually run the liquor stores? It sounds like it's way too late to be complaining about a "socialist government," if that's the case.
I think it’s a Commonwealth thing. The others do it too.
I was wrong, it’s not all of them, Massachusetts and Kentucky do not have ABC stores.
They used to be called “State Stores” when they were totally run by the commonwealth in monopolistic fashion. Now they are called “Wine & Spirits Shops” and at least some of them are independent franchises. Most had closed down in my area north of Philadelphia. The few that were still open last weekend were the independents — now they have been ordered closed as well. The commonwealth buys all wine and liquor wholesale and distributes it at the local level from the shops.
This has always been a major political football in Pennsylvania. The unions that staffed the system were politically powerful and resistant to changing the system.
“...Doesn’t the state government in PA actually run the liquor stores?...”
Yes. Been that way for a long time. Different groups are trying to change it to a privatized system, but so far it has not been successful.