Why do I get the feeling that the notion of buying beer in the aisles of my favorite supermarket or convenience store just got a little farther away.
Let me try to explain.
As readers of this blog know all too well, I am the state's leading proponent of blowing up the state Liquor Control Board and turning the entire operation over to private enterprise.
I don't really want much out of life. I would, however, like to enjoy something that people in so many other states can do.
Namely, I would like to be able to pick up a bottle of wine or a case of beer while I am doing the rest of my grocery shopping. This is a foreign concept here in the Land of Giants. Instead we have to buy a case of beer from a beer distributor, a six-pack from a deli or tavern, and wine or spirits at the state store. That's three trips.
If you happen to be able to patronize a supermarket that has beer sales, it's still no bargain. They are sold in a separate part of the store, and you have to pay for it there, not with the rest of your groceries. And you are limited to two six-packs. If you want a case, that's two trips to the car. I'm not making this stuff up.
My idea, which has slowly but surely been gaining traction, is to blow up the whole system and turn sales of alcohol in Pennsylvania over to private enterprise. Even the state Legislature seemed to be coming around to that idea, with the House this past session passing a bill and the Senate seemingly on the verge of their own somewhat amended plan. Then, as it almost always does in Harrisburg, politics got involved, and nothing got done.
Now they'll start pushing that boulder back up the hill when they return to the Capitol in the fall.
Unfortunately, the hill probably just got a little higher.
One of the big arguments made by those defending the current system is the revenue it provides the Commonwealth. I concede this argument. It's a real concern. To be honest, my motives in this are pretty selfish. I don't have a discernible drinking problem, despite the belief of many who wonder why I keep harping on this topic. It's just a matter of convenience. I want to make one trip and get everything I want. I can't do that now. I don't think that's too much to ask of the Legislature.
But this ne wdevelopment likely will be. In Harrisburg, money talks. And the revenue argument advanced by the pro-LCB forces got a lot more ammo yesterday. The LCB announced record profits in the last fiscal year. They raked in $128.4 million in the year ending June 30. That's an increase of $24.9 million, or 24 percent.
No doubt it was caused by people frustrated by the current system.
I've said I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for Pennsylvania to reform this archaic system. That probably holds even truer this morning.
Yep, it's enough to drive a man to drink.
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