Just watched the House Liquor Control Committee debate numerous amendments to HB790 -- Rep. Turzai's PLCB privatization bill -- and pass one of them, Rep. Mustio's, which did bring down the license fees a bit. It still squeezes one hell of a lot of money out of the wholesale end of the business, and that has to change, or we're going to see price increases in PA just like they did in Washington. But that can change, and must, on the floor of the House.
It's also clear to everyone on both sides of the aisle that beer has to join the process. It should be clear to beer wholesalers and retailers as well; things ARE changing, and it would be a good thing for beer lobbyists to get to Harrisburg and make their best deal possible to advance liquor/wine privatization. It's not a time for greed on either side; this is a time of opportunity that needs to be seized. It's also a time of change, no doubt, and many folks would rather not change. Well...maybe then it's time to bring in new blood.
Interesting times. Now it's up to Rep. Turzai to get this through...while still maintaining real privatization that doesn't get Washingtonized. Cross your fingers, people, and then uncross them and talk to your reps about what you want in a privatization bill. Contact them TODAY, because it may come to a vote quickly. I'm emailing my rep right now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
what does the amendment change?
Full text is here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2013&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=867
If I read this amendment correctly, a distributor with an "enhanced" license won't be able to sell a four pack of 12oz bottles (common in craft beer, as you know). The four pack requirement is 88oz? I'm assuming the person who drafted this doesn't buy or drink beer.
The "enhanced" license fee for distributors in this amendment is suspiciously low...
Yeah, the sixpack limit is just silly. There should be no limits at all on this, and I'm going to be yelling as loudly as possible for that. There's no reason for it.
This bill also "only" gives an $800 million windfall. That's where some of it went.
So now we are seeing what is really going to happen....
*Cost of licenses going down
*Prices for booze going up
*LCB in Harrisburg will still have their cushey jobs
*The big "wind-fall" not so big anymore.
*5,000 low-level employees without jobs
*$1.2 million in unemployment per month
*$156 million in unemployment per year
*Stagnant job market to replace these jobs.
Okay, let's take that:
So now we are seeing what is really going to happen....
*Cost of licenses going down
Maybe. The bill is likely to be amended in the House, and no one really knows what the Senate will do. We really need some remedials on how the Legislature works.
*Prices for booze going up
See above. If license fees come down a bit more...probably not.
*LCB in Harrisburg will still have their cushey jobs
Who, the regulators? Yeah, so what? There are a LOT of cushy jobs in Harrisburg. If it bugs you, let's get to work on the Turnpike Commission.
*The big "wind-fall" not so big anymore.
See my argument in previous post: I don't care if there is ANY windfall. Besides...any windfall at all is found money, by definition. This is a non-point.
*5,000 low-level employees without jobs
No, about 3,200 full-time state jobs cut, about 1500 part-time. There's a difference, because...
*$1.2 million in unemployment per month
*$156 million in unemployment per year
*Stagnant job market to replace these jobs.
That's assuming there are NO jobs created by privatization. That's what the union tells us, but that's ridiculous. Grocery stores adding beer and wine...okay, maybe not so much. But if Total Wine and other booze superstores come to PA -- and they say they will -- that's new stores: jobs created. If beer distributors buy all-alcohol licenses, they'll need wine and spirits buyers, they'll need to expand: jobs created. Wholesalers, warehouses, trucking: jobs created. And if the PLCB clerks are as good as they keep telling us? They should easily be top candidates for these jobs.
But the bottom line is that the State should not be running a crappy retail monopoly as a jobs program in the first place. What if the State had created a Pennsylvania Lighter-than-air Compliance Bureau back in 1934, that still employed 5,000 union workers to inspect the 4 blimps a year that flew through Pennsylvania? Would you want to keep them employed? No, because a smaller number of private blimp mechanics could handle the job much more efficiently. Well...guess what?
By the way, your math sucks. $1.2 million in unemployment, $156 million a year? The concept is bogus, but $1.2 million a month comes out to $14.4 million a year. Get a calculator.
The Guvs own PFM report puts the transitional costs at about 1.4 billion dollars. Look good when Turzai was talking about a 3-5 billion dollar windfall, not so good at the 2.3 billion he seemed to settle on last year. At 800 million all I can say is their math sucks. They need to get a calculator.
Find a bridge, troll. No one was ever talking about 3-5 billion. What's more, if the transitional costs are $1.4 billion under THIS bill, I'm a monkey. You guys need to Google "apples" and "oranges" and take a hard look at the differences.
Post a Comment