PLCB budget pitch made

JOHN L. MICEK The (Allentown) Morning Call

HARRISBURG -- As officials from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board made their annual budget pitch to the state Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday, more than one lawmaker on the panel said they didn’t want to dwell on the potential privatization of the 70-year-old agency.

But the possible action was hard to ignore.

Again and again, legislators grilled liquor board members on how the agency operates, on their efforts to make the LCB more consumer friendly and whether a privatized system would result in increased access to alcohol by minors.

“I hear you saying that you want to be more like a private business. That begs the question of why not just privatize like 31 other states,” Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre, told agency officials.

Gov. Tom Corbett and legislative allies in the state House and Senate are pushing for the privatization of the state store system, arguing that the state needs the roughly $2 billion that could be raised from a sale. Backers also say that a privately run system would result in greater consumer choice and lower prices.

Opponents have warned that offloading the system could cost the state jobs and badly needed tax revenue. The system returns about $500 million to the state -- nearly $400 million in taxes, the balance in profits.