Posted: | February 14, 2017 02:06 PM |
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From: | Representative Mike Turzai |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Wholesale Divestiture of Wine and Spirits |
History was made last year with the enactment of significant liquor reforms which took our system into the 21st century and out of the era of Prohibition. Act 39 brought forth wine privatization by allowing for the sale of wine in private retail markets and by providing for the availability of over 1,000 additional licenses. Moreover, the legislation permitted license upgrades for eating establishments and allowed for the long-awaited direct shipment of wine from producers to consumers. In furtherance of our commitment to full liquor privatization, I will be introducing legislation providing for the divestiture of the wholesale system for both wine and spirits. Currently, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board maintains its monopoly on the purchase and distribution of wine and spirits to all outlets within the state, while at the same time, competing with the newly privatized retail market for the sale of wine. Divestiture of the wholesale system will allow importers, who are already operating within the Commonwealth, to bring in a larger variety of products and will allow our licensees the ability to negotiate pricing on the products they purchase. Wholesale divestiture will once and for all remove the PLCB from its unnecessary interference in the flow of liquor products throughout the Commonwealth. The legislation will allow for the movement of products direct from manufacturers to importers and finally retailers without necessitating that shipments come to rest in the hands of the PLCB before the agency resells it to its private competitors in the retail market. Thank you in advance for taking the time to consider co-sponsoring my legislation. I am hoping you will join me in continuing our effort to move towards full-scale privatization of our state liquor system. |
Introduced as HB1075