SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE Editorial: A group of state lawmakers once again has defied long odds. Though it seemed impossible, they have come up with a worse system than the existing state monopoly to sell alcoholic beverages…
So, Monday afternoon, the House Liquor Control Committee scuttled a simple bill proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett to turn over alcohol wholesale and retail sales to the private sector, ending the post-Prohibition-era state government monopoly over an enterprise in which it has no legitimate business.
Committee Republicans drastically and foolishly altered the bill. The version they concocted and passed would give beer distributors first crack at obtaining state licenses for wine and spirits sales, thus bolstering an anti-consumer relic of another era that itself is in need of reform… (more)
