Saturday, May 18, 2013
Privatization debates in the Pennsylvania General Assembly could mean changes to where Pennsylvanians can buy six-packs.
- GOVERNMENT
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Saturday, May 18
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — A simple six-pack of beer is becoming a focal point of the most substantive legislative debate on Pennsylvania alcohol laws since Prohibition. A Tuesday afternoon Senate Law and Justice Committee on liquor privatization, headed by Chairman Chuck McIlhinney, R-Bucks, featured numerous testifiers discussing the already-private industry of beer sales. Chief among the concerns from the beer distributor industry and taverns is package reform, or allowing establishments who sell beer to sell different amounts. Under current law, beer distributors cannot sell less than a case, and bars or grocery stores with the ability to sell bottles cannot sell more than a 12-pack. The Senate, under McIlhinney’s…
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Testimony at a recent Pa. Senate hearing told of liquor privatization as a harbinger of social chaos, but advocates of privatization say the concerns were overblown.
By Eric Boehm| PA Independent HARRISBURG – For most of the last two years, the debate over alcohol privatization in Pennsylvania has focused on the financial aspects of the Republican-backed plan to sell-off the state liquors. But such bottom-line issues took a backseat as the state Senate held the first of three planned hearings on the liquor bill passed by the state House in March. Social issues were front and center in the Senate Law and Justice Committee, with privatization painted as a harbinger of doom by a litany of testifiers who promised everything from an increase in crime and disease to higher rates of unemployment and prostitution. Related stories: And all, they said, because a private retailer would be allowed to sell a bottle…
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Gov. Tom Corbett says it is time for Pennsylvania to be done with it’s liquor-selling state monopoly.
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Sunday, February 3
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett has unveiled a plan to privatize Pennsylvania’s monopoly liquor store system, simultaneously executing a deft political move intended to accomplish a goal of his administration while undercutting some of his loudest critics. Read More: Pa. State Store Privatization OK with Lehigh Valley Lawmakers In Pittsburgh, Corbett said the proceeds from selling off the state liquor stores – estimated at more than $1 billion – would be used to increase funding for basic education over the next four years. The revenue could be used to enhance school safety and security and create a grant program for school districts to use for early education, individualized learning and math, science and …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Lawmakers appear to like Gov. Tom Corbett's proposal to eliminate and privatize the state's wine and liquor stores.
Several Lehigh Valley lawmakers look favorably upon Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to privatize the state's approximately 620 wine and liquor stores. Under Corbett's plan, announced Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh, state liquor stores would be eliminated. That, it is hoped, would increase availability of beer, wine and liquor sales. In a press release, Corbett committed $1 billion in proceeds from the process to education funding. Corbett said that the $1 billion will be used to create the Passport for Learning Block Grant, which will provide flexibility to schools. “Our plan gives consumers what they want by increasing choice and convenience, and helps to secure our future by adding $1 billion in funding toward the education of our children, …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Gov. Tom Corbett will announce plans to privatize Pennsylvania's state store system
The big issue of whether to privatize Pennsylvania's liquor stores will take center stage today as Gov. Tom Corbett announces plans to sell them off. Corbett will call for liquor store licenses to be auctioned off, according to multiple sources. Sales of beer and wine could be opened up to various retailers including drug stores and big-box department stores. Related story: Pa.'s Prohibition Era May Finally End The Republican governor is expected to announce his plan at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Pittsburgh. This move comes on the heels of plans to privatize the PA Lottery -- another controversial move. Pennsylvania has about 620 state stores. Union groups have argued that more than 4,500 jobs will be lost if the state system is privatized, but …
Monday, December 31, 2012
State liquor stores will be open until 8 p.m. on New Year's Eve
All PA Wine & Spirits Stores will be open until 8 p.m. on New Year's Eve. There are 15 state stores in Lehigh County and 13 in Northampton County listed on the LCB's website. Check the lists for addresses and phone numbers.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
The union that represents Pa. state store employees gave thousands of dollars to lawmakers in 2012
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Sunday, December 30, 2012
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG — The labor union that forms the backbone of opposition to Republican plans to privatize Pennsylvania’s liquor store system gave more than $140,000 to state-level candidates in 2012, including plenty of campaign cash to some high-ranking Republicans. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, which counts about 3,000 state liquor store employees among its members, is the most visible and vocal opponent of House Majority Leader Mike Turzai’s, R-Allegheny, call to privatize the state-owned liquor monopoly. And with Gov. Tom Corbett in support of privatization and the GOP in control of both chambers of the General Assembly, the union must rely on more than just Democratic support to keep …
Friday, August 10, 2012
Pa. state stores announced a voluntary recall of 1800 Tequila because some bottles may contain glass particles.
- BUSINESS
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Friday, August 10, 2012
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Friday alerted customers to a voluntary partial recall of 1800® Tequila 1.75 Liter Silver, Reposado and Coconut due to potential glass particles in the bottle. There have been no reports of injuries. The number of bottles affected may be low, the LCB says. Potential damage during transportation and handling to glass stoppers in the bottle may have caused the presence of small particles of glass that could pose a health risk. 1800 Tequila in all other bottle sizes as well as 1800 Tequila Anejo, Select Silver and 1800 Ultimate Margarita are not impacted. Customers are encouraged to check to see if they have affected products by comparing the first nine digits of the 13-digit Lot Code on the side of the…
Monday, August 6, 2012
Financials show that Pa. consistently overestimates how much LCB can remit to Treasury
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, August 6, 2012
By Jared Sichel | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s politicians may be saddling the state-owned liquor monopoly with obligations that it can’t long fulfill. As two separate GOP privatization plans — one in the House and one in the Senate — lay in wait, public documents make clear that the state has consistently overestimated how much the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, or PLCB, can afford to remit to the Treasury. Financial statements made public by the PLCB and examined by PA Independent show that between the three fiscal years of 2008-09 and 2010-11, the Governor’s Budget Office and Legislature under former Gov. Ed Rendell, overestimated by $49.2 million how much in profits Pennsylvania’s 600 liquor stores could transfer to …
Starship Trooper
8:21 am on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Senator McIllhenny... Do you think the constituents are stupid.? Over 70 % of us want privatization.With that kind of majority I would think the Senate would easily vote Yes for privatization. If the Senate votes NO then the Senators who voted against privatization will more than likely lose their seat next election cycle. Thats my guess. more ›