Posted on 03/19/2013 6:04:56 AM PDT by P.O.E.
In his Clark, Mercer County, home, that's old enough to understand the anguish his parents have faced over whether Billie will lose her hourly $21.48 salary and family health benefits as an assistant manager of a state liquor store if the Legislature agrees to privatize the sale of wine and spirits stores as Gov. Tom Corbett wants.
His mom is now one step closer to losing her job.
After a four-hour hearing Monday, the House Liquor Control Committee voted 14-10 along party lines to end the state's 80-year-old monopoly on the sale of booze as the Republican governor proposed as part of his $28.4 billion spending plan for 2013-14. The full House is scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday, and, if approved, the bill would move to the Senate for consideration before going to Corbett.
The bill the committee adopted is not as grand as Corbett had wanted and its projected proceeds of a sale would be $200 million lower than the governor's $1 billion estimate. Corbett would spend the money on public education.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
No mention of structural shift costs, tax implications, cross-border sales, impact on consumption, changes in alcohol-related problems, etc. Just a magic $800M for schools.
I guess as long as the tree-gnat or whatever isn't harmed.
The article doesn’t say that regardless of who is in control of liquor sales, there will still be jobs. Just maybe not at $21.48 an hour.
The dinosaur must die.
No doubt it will be run more efficiently. I was just musing over the dearth of info on the issue presented in the media.
Heck, over in NJ, I can get beer, liquor, mixers, a cigar, lottery, chips, and a decent sub sandwich all in one stop.
On the other hand, the local beer distributor is my favorite “big box store”. :)
In PA I asked for a wine recomendation. They are not allowed to recommend any product. They are merely clerks and cannot give opinions on the products they sell. It should be better when privitized and knowlegeable sales people can actually help you make a decision.
“In PA I asked for a wine recomendation”
LOL When we visit the family in Pittsburgh, we take our own.
We’ve got the most screwed up liquor laws in the country here in Pennsylvania. The only thing I liked about living in Jersey was that I could pick up beer and wine in the grocery store.
I didn't realize that. In fact, I have several times asked for and received recommendations from their personnel. I've only done it when I'm picking up a gift for someone.
Baloney, it just gets dumped into the General Fund.
Worked in a Pa. liquor store my last year of college. We had a lot of rules about recommendations. Wine selection was poor then and hasn’t gotten noticeably better. They have more on-line than in the stores though.
Can’t buy beer in the state stores either so that’s two stops for a party. Hours and locations are limited as well.
Neighboring states reap the benefits in sales. NJ, Maryland benefit the most.
This is a good thing for the state and long overdue.
If memory serves, there's a limit on how much beer you could take home from a bar. It was some weird ounce-age, (192, I think) so it would take two of us to buy a case worth.
personally, I feel the stuff causes more fatalities, and messes up more lives than it’s worth. And THEY’re worried about gun control..... this stuff is not only in the mix of many fatalities on the road, but ruins homes/lives. But take our guns...
I'm always leery of these claims. Back in my more naive days, I used to do the United Way drives at my office. There were some who objected to UW money going to such things as Planned Parenthood or whatever. As "reassurance", UW allowed you to direct your contributions to a specific organization (i.e., your local Girl Scouts). What they didn't tell you is that they then reduced that organization's allocation from the general fund, so they ended up with the same net. Then the UW was scandalized by corruption by its officials, and long story short, I'm not quite as naive anymore.
We have liquore stores and get the good wine in stock. Like Kendall Jackson and Starborough ect ect.
Some stores have dedicated premium wine rooms and knowledgeable personnel willing to help. Had a very good experience at Plymouth Meeting at Christmas.
The government should not be in any business. It should not be selling liquor. The media of course want the government to take over ALL businesses (see the communist manifesto) so they are unhappy.
These people have years of experience selling liquor. They can find a job easily.
That's my store! And here I've been joking with my wife all morning that the clerk picked that $20 bottle of wine we gave away last Christmas by its label. Just like we would've.
The new law includes this little tidbit:
"New alcohol retailers, such as wine and spirits stores, grocery stores, pharmacies and convenience stores would have to use an ID scanner device before they could sell alcohol."
Corbett's plan also calls for... (from a related article elsewhere)
The idea of handing over a huge pile of money from the sale of license to our politicians is distasteful.
Just this week stories of blatant corruption/kickbacks in the turnpike commission are coming out.
Privatizing state stores is a good idea in principle. In practice, it will be a feast for the corrupt politicians.
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