Newspaper: Pa. still in dark ages with state system of liquor control laws

Pennsylvania continues to operate its liquor monopoly because overpaid union workers keep the pressure on state lawmakers to keep the antiquated state store system in place.

From an editorial published in The Mercury:

Only 18 other states have liquor control bureaucracies similar to Pennsylvania's and the only reason they still have them is because of status protection of the entrenched financial interests of a few at the expense of the many.

So far, neither of the two gubernatorial candidates has come out in favor of privatization. If the governor doesn't push it, it won't happen. And even if he does, as Tom Ridge and Dick Thornburgh did, it requires an awful lot of heavy lifting with no guarantee of success.

That's why watching what happens in Virginia is important.

As it is, it looks like the state will continue to hold on to its liquor and wine monopoly for some years to come.

That's nothing to celebrate, with a drink or without.

Read the full editorial at the link below:

Pa. still in dark ages with state system of liquor control laws