A decades-old debate in Harrisburg is back on with a renewed effort to privatize state liquor stores.
But, this time Republicans in the state house plan to put the issue to voters via a Constitutional amendment.
Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce CEO Gene Barr is in favor of the move.
“The current system we have is not only not consumer friendly, it was designed to not be consumer friendly. There’s an important distinction there that I would argue,” Barr said. “And further, monopolies are inherently anti-consumer.”
Wendell Young is with the Local 1776 of United Food and Commercial Workers Union and he says going through a Constitutional amendment to change the law isn’t going to give a full picture to the voters.
“The way I see this, you don’t trust the voters to let them know what you’re really selling them,” Young said. “It’s like an old western, a person in front of the horse and wagon selling the magical elixir that’s going to cure all their problems. But, everyone knows it really doesn’t.”
Young also cited the potential loss of billions of dollars in revenue for the state if they were to move to a private system.