Do you think we should privatize our Liquor Stores here in PA? Did you know that the stores generate a guaranteed half Billion dollars a year to the Commonwealth?
Under privatization, Pennsylvania will surely have to create another bureaucracy just to collect tax revenue from all the many private retailers that will exist. Under the streamlined system we currently have, we don't have to chase our money, it's automatically there because PA handles the distribution and sale of our hard liquor and wine.
The pricing is kept low because the Commonwealth has sheer buying power on its side and is not looking to up profits every quarter. Here in this video you will see the toll just a few months of liquor privatization has taken on Washington State. This is not theory, this is what can very well happen in Pennsylvania.
We must also consider the 5,000 trained union employees that make a good living with benefits. They will be replaced with cheap labor that will contribute less to our tax base.
Who do you think will have to make up the difference in the budget gap created by losing that automatic half Billion dollars and the tax revenue generated from Wine & Spirit employees? It will come out of the rest of our pockets one way or another.
People must also consider the possible harm this could bring to the families of PA.
With less trained individuals watching over the sales, it will become easier for minors to get a hold of hard liquor and DUI rates and drunk driving deaths would surely rise.
This system has been in place for decades and has always worked for the greater good of the people. It is fiscally and morally responsible to keep these sales with the Commonwealth.