LCB: Nice try, but sell stores

Published: July 29, 2010

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The state liquor monopoly hopes that a new retail store at New Hope offers, well, a new hope that consumers will embrace the Prohibition-era Pennsylvania system.

According to the Liquor Control Board, the new store is consumer friendly, in that it was designed partially on the basis of consumer input.

While it's true that the LCB is far more consumer-conscious than it used to be, the fact remains that the Pennsylvania government has no legitimate business directly selling alcohol to the public at either the wholesale or retail levels. That simply should be the province of the private sector, in which competitors inherently must meet consumer demands in order to prosper.

Rep. Mike Turzai, an Allegheny County Republican, has introduced a bill to sell off the retail and wholesale aspects of the state liquor monopoly, which would leave the state government in its proper roles of regulation and enforcement.

The state has projected $1 billion-plus deficits over the next several years. Mr. Turzai's bill would generate about $2 billion from the license sales without diminishing annual state revenue.

Pennsylvania should have been out of the booze business a long time ago as a matter of principle. The perilous economy adds emphasis to the need for a private system.

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