Gov. Wolf vetoes liquor privatization bill

Wolf said Thursday that selling off the liquor system isn’t a good business decision and warned the plan would have led to higher prices.

The changes proposed by the bill were projected to generate more than $200 million in new revenue in its first year, and Mr. Miskin said that money could have been directed to public schools, a priority for Mr. Wolf.

Steve Miskin, House GOP spokesman, called the move disappointing. “During consideration of this legislation, it became abundantly clear that this plan would result in higher prices for consumers”.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board reported the state’s alcohol stores made in excess of US$2.24 billion in sales a year ago. After meeting directly with the governor on Wednesday, House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana) said lawmakers are disheartened by the governor’s unilateral action to shut down state government, but plan to focus their efforts on finding a solution to break the budget deadlock and reopen state government as soon as possible.

Under the bill, state liquor stores would be phased out and the state-run beer wholesale system would be leased to private interests. Instead, he’s pushed his ideas for what is commonly known as “modernization” – eliminating some of the constraints that keep the state stores from being more profitable. I am open to options for expanding the availability of wine and beer in more locations, including supermarkets. It would also provide a pathway to the closure of the approximately 600 state-controlled wine and liquor stores and allows for direct shipment of wine from other states.

That comes two days after the governor vetoed the entire budget sent to his desk. One pertains to education funding, the other is commonly referred to as a “user’s manual” for the budget document.

Wolf has scheduled meetings for Monday and Tuesday with GOP legislative leaders to work on a compromise budget.