By Jim Quirk
Staff Reporter
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (April 16) – Wine kiosks operated by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board are expected to appear in 100 grocery stores across the state this fall.
It’s unclear, however, whether the kiosks will be exempt from a restriction that allows only 25 percent of liquor stores to be open on Sundays.
House Bill 2335, sponsored by Rep. John Payne, R-Dauphin, would completely eliminate the 25 percent restriction.
Payne, a member of the House Liquor Control Committee, said Wednesday, during a hearing on liquor control issues, it makes no sense to him why the board can’t determine Sunday store hours.
Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, said Thursday he’s opposed to legislation that would change the Sunday restrictions. Clymer in the past has spoken against other issues that promoted alcohol consumption, including offering free alcoholic beverages to casino patrons.
“The more we continue the free flow of alcohol … all that does is appease a special interest but doesn’t really help our efforts to control a real problem – the addiction to drinking,” he said.
The board wants state lawmakers to consider a number of legislative changes tailored to increase revenues from liquor sales. Exempting kiosks from the Sunday restriction is one of the requests.
CLICK HERE to read an article about a request to allow Pennsylvania Lottery machines in liquor stores.
Board Chairman Patrick J. Stapleton told lawmakers during the joint hearing they should exempt wine kiosks from a restriction that allows only 25 percent of liquor stores to be open Sundays.
Payne said Thursday lawmakers “shouldn’t be meddling with a business that is trying to make as much money as it can for the commonwealth.”
“That [Sunday hours] should be a board decision and not a legislative decision,” he said. “I would be interested in doing whatever I can to make more money for the commonwealth. Who cares if 27 percent are open or 24 percent are open.”
Senate Law and Justice Committee Chairman John Pippy, R-Allegheny, said after the hearing the kiosk request is included in Senate Bill 81, which the Senate “plans on moving.” The bill, unlike Payne’s proposal, exempts kiosks from the Sunday restrictions.
Senate Bill 81, sponsored by Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie, would also allow the board to offer coupons to customers, Pippy said.
The kiosks are state-of-the-art vending machines that offer wine, Board CEO Joe Conti explained after the hearing. In order for customers to buy wine from a kiosk, a driver’s license must be inserted into the machine to determine age, he said.
An intoxicated person would not be able to purchase wine from a kiosk because the purchaser must first pass an alcohol breath test by blowing into the machine, Conti said.
Additionally, state employees will use video equipment to monitor wine sales from the kiosks as an additional safeguard, he said. The employees, who will work from a centralized location, would determine whether the person buying wine is the same person pictured on the license, Conti said.
Rebecca Shaver, executive director of Pennsylvania Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], said her organization is not opposed to the responsible sale of alcohol. She said Liquor Control Board had addressed many of the early concerns MADD had with the kiosks.
However, she said the only concern she has is “more availability will lead to more consumption.”
The kiosks, which have been under development for two years, will first be offered at locations in Mechanicsburg and Linglestown this summer, he said.
The state plans to unveil the balance of its 100 machines in grocery stores sometime in the fall, Conti and Stapleton said.
“Since each kiosk constitutes a store, kiosks would be subject to the 25 percent restriction,” Stapleton said during the hearing. “To achieve any meaningful success, kiosks must remain open on Sundays, the second-busiest retail day of the week.”
Conti said after the hearing the state operates more than 600 liquor stores.
Stapleton said during the hearing that without legislative change, the board would “either have to shut [the kiosks] off on Sundays or close down sales at approximately 75 brick and mortar [liquor] stores, roughly half of all stores open on Sundays.”
Gary Tuma, spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell, said Thursday the administration has not taken a position on the proposal to exempt kiosks from the Sunday restriction.
Rendell last July expressed concerns with the kiosk plan. He wanted to make sure the technology worked before the kiosks were brought into the state.
