Half a loaf better than none
“Halfway measures” usually produce “mixed results.” In other words, you end up with something mediocre.
Along that line, top officials of the state’s Liquor Control Board appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee recently to argue for liberation. The LCB wants to modernize, Chairman Patrick J. Stapleton III said. He implored lawmakers to give the state agency more flexibility in pricing and hiring. He also wants the state’s so-called Wine and Spirits Shoppes to stay open later on Sundays, and to allow Pennsylvanians to get wine shipped directly to their homes. Can you imagine?
The request for greater freedom comes in the wake of Gov. Corbett’s proposal to sell off the state-owned stores to the private sector. The idea has been floated before. Each time the push was on to get the state out of the liquor business, the LCB took halfway measures to placate the critics.
Consumer-oriented practices long established at private liquor stores in neighboring states were imported. Wine specialty shops were developed. And the highfalutin “Chairman’s Selection” line of otherwise forgettable wines was established.
Halfway measures for sure but any change that makes the state’s liquor monopoly more tolerable is worth having. What hasn’t changed: cost, convenience and choice. Prices are too high, locations and hours are inconvenient and the pickens slim. For proof, cross any bridge into New Jersey and stop at any liquor store you see – and you’ll see plenty of them. Not only are prices significantly lower and selection significantly greater, you can buy beer too. Can you imagine? And not just by the case.
Want to try that imported beer a friend was telling you about? Pony up 50 bucks at a Pennsylvania beer distributor for 24 bottles’ worth. And if you don’t like it: too bad _ your loss.
To be honest, the high prices aren’t entirely the LCB’s fault. The agency is required by the state to mark up every bottle 30 percent. On top of that, consumers have to pay the 18 percent Johnstown tax, which 75 years ago helped Johnston recover from its infamous flood. Why is the tax still on the books? What can we say? Welcome to Pennsylvania. And then there’s the 6 percent sales tax.
The LCB folks want a more flexible markup, which makes sense. And lawmakers ought to have the sense to eliminate the Johnstown tax, considering the flood occurred in 1936 and the town recovered by 1942. They also ought to allow the agency to hire outside civil service, which hamstrings officials’ ability to hire the best people and to get rid of dead weight.
If it sounds like we’re arguing for halfway measures, we’ll take what we can get. The most desirable outcome from a consumer’s perspective is to sell off the stores, which would raise tons of revenue at a time when the state is mired in debt. Then there are the LCB employees who’d come off the state’s payroll and out of the underfunded pension system.
Unfortunately, the likelihood of lawmakers selling off the system isn’t great if the past is any indication. So while we’d love to see wholesale change, we’d settle for the mixed results of halfway measures.