Re: Dems to counter state store privatization plan
Real privatization of this system could be a good thing as long as it doesn’t include some type of sweetheart deal to one of their campaign contributing grafters like Corbett proposed. But having lived in other states and not being a drinker myself, Pennsylvania has a lot of heavy drinking people, they don’t seem to be impaired in obtaining cheap booze.
AND, privatization will lead to INCREASED prices, PA liquor agency is one of the largest purchasers of alcoholic beverages in the world, they get a volume discount in their wholesale purchasing.
Splitting up into small chains and mom and pop stores will NOT lead to cheaper prices. Lived in Maryland for years with privatized liquor and the selections were poor and the prices much higher than in PA.
These are facts I have observed myself. Privatization advocates are looking always to line their pockets at citizen’s expense under the guise of making products cheaper, reality prevails over dogma in my world, unfortunately dogma is easier to take.
EDITOR: Our observations are that PA State Stores offer a much larger variety for choice than most liquor stores in privatized states. Prices do not seem higher. Our state store staffs are very helpful. And the state can use the money. ‘If it ain’t broke, why fix it?’
Retail prices increased 15-20% in Washington in 2012, because the state installed another tier of taxes to maintain revenue neutrality, which left the end-user as the only place for the private sector to extract their profit margin. Of course, Speaker Turzai’s plan calls for the same long-term strategy. Washington is actually losing revenue the second year in, as end-users flee high prices by flocking to Oregon & Idaho, two public control states.
If a one-time billion dollars is realized on the front end, the licenses have to be monstrously expensive, said cost also passed on to the end-user. Licensees will cluster in and around the five counties containing Pittsburgh and Philly – which generate nearly 50% of the cash flow.
The forty rural counties generate less than 11% of the revenue – so country folks are in for long drives.
Fortunately Governor Wolf sees all the flaws in the plan.
You don’t drink but you know the prices and selection of what is in Maryland and then when you moved to PA you made it a point to go into the state stores to compare prices with Maryland even though you don’t drink. I hope you don’t mind when I say that is just BS.
I drink and have lived in Maryland too and there is almost nothing I can’t find less expensive. How do I know? I still go into Maryland and DC and NJ for work sometimes and I do compare the prices. Is everything cheaper at every store? Of course not, it is just like shopping for anything else; some places are more and some are less but at least in Maryland you can get everything in one stop instead of 3 like here in PA.
PA buying power is meaningless when the average markup, not counting taxes, is 45.2%. Any savings are used up in gross inefficiencies and general incompetence of the system. It is the governments job to regulate not retail.
I see that Mr. Birkos is commenting. He always says the same thing no matter how many times he is proven wrong.
According to the Washington State department of Revenue prices have increased 11%. Mr. Birkos can make up anything he wants but has no proof. Idaho just released their yearly report with said that Washington Border bleed is 7% of their yearly business or about 10 days worth of PA border bleed using the PLCB border bleed study. Since every county has more beer distributors than state stores and they will get first shot at licensees it might be that people have less distance to drive and if grocery stores get licenses then there are certainly more of those in every county.
Mr. Birkos usually complains that Washington only got $181 million for their stores but that was for only 329 stores and they only sold liquor not wine. PA will be selling of at least 1200 licenses for liquor and more for wine or more than 4 times the amount of Washington and that doesn’t count selling $300 million in assets so a billion dollars total isn’t that unlikely.
Oh, and finally, Washington made over $40 million more this year than the last year of their state stores again easily found on the Dept Of Revenue website and the WALCB annual reports.
Fortunately the people see through the lies in the union’s plan to keep the state stores. .
Well yes I do mind, I grew up in Pennsylvania, moved to Maryland and then moved back to PA 10 years ago. —I used to drink and I no longer drink. He should give it up also, but I call BS on his claims because I lived in rural MD and liquor and wine prices were high, and the selection in Mom and Pop stores was dismal as compared to a PA state store.
As to the 3 stop thing he is rambling about, well I made that point but the editor didn’t print it SO I will say again what needs changed in PA are the stupid special legislated rules that have a handful of beer distributors making the money on beer sales and forcing people to buy a whole case at a time. Those rules have nothing to do with government retailing beer but just how awful PA is when it comes to special interests controlling the legislation.
BTW, lived in Hagerstown, MD which meant I was a 5 minute drive from PA so the whole time I lived in MD and drank I would go to PA to purchase wine and liquor because it was CHEAPER and the state stores had large selections of French wine while the MD stores had Boone’s Farm. I seriously doubt anyone would drive to Maryland from PA to purchase wine or liquor if they have any standards in taste.
I can’t speak of Hagarstown of 10 years ago or more but i can of the state of the PLCB. Prior to Newman being chairman the state of wine, let alone French wine was dismal in PA. but by 2005, the 2nd year of his term, had improved. However, that does not change what I said before about shopping.. No doubt there are more expensive stores in MD just as there are less expensive stores. Not every store is more expensive on all things and not every store is less expensive.- that is how comparative shopping in a free market works.
As for nobody going to Maryland….well all you need to do is look at all the PA plates at Beltway liquor, at over 30,000 sq ft it is double the size of any PA store and triple the size of a so called “Premium Selection” store – like the one in Chambersburg. Or maybe go to State Line Liquors and check there or even Long Meadow Liquors in Hagerstown if you want to go back and visit.
[Beer by the ]case law [s screwed up in PA but that isn’t liquor privatization since they are already private. The problem there is how they are protected. Even with a lower beer tax I rarely find beer less expensive in PA than Maryland by the case and it is always more expensive here by the 6 pack due to the idiocy of our beer laws.
However, the underlying question of all this is if the state should be selling a retail product and the answer is no. State run retail is socialism.
If I want Boone’s Farm wine or Jack Daniels Whiskey then you are correct. So you want to go to MD and buy cheap rot gut go ahead. I don’t care if it is socialism but cheap liquor for the masses isn’t good government either…