Lets Kill Another Privatization Myth IV

With all this "control", why isn't PA safer?

Converting PA to a private system will put a liquor store on every corner, have drunk drivers roaming the streets looking for victims and packs of wild drunken teens will trod over the desolate landscape. How do we know this?  The state store clerks union tells us in letters to the editor, on-line comments and even senior officials spouting it as gospel.

The truth is none of that has happened in Washington State.  Clerk representatives like to say that Washington State DUI citation data can't be believed because there were less troopers on the road to write tickets.  Never mind that local police write the most tickets since there are thousands more of them than State Police. Or they say that DUI fatalities are going down everywhere which to me means that their dire predictions didn't come about since Washington State did see a decline in DUI fatalities. However, the amount of troopers on the road has little to do with DUI fatalities. People do not die and then try to hide the fact like they do with crashes.

2013 national data has not been released yet so we have to look at 2012 data.  In 2012 17 states reported a decrease in DUI fatalities.  Pa was not one of them.  Pennsylvania's DUI fatalities increased 2,8% overall compared to 2011 and went up over 15% for under 21 drivers while Washington DUI fatalities decreased 7.6% overall and over 30% for under 21 drivers. Now an official representative of the UFCW has said that this represents "statistically insignificant numbers" so I have to wonder how many deaths it takes to be significant (statistically speaking) for him?

It is all because of beer the clerks say but beer is also private in Washington and since they had and continue to have the highest liquor taxes in the country that makes beer the choice for those on a budget....like teens. So since the PLCB is in charge of "control" via inspections, complaints, beer registration, and numerous other ways - are they not doing as good a job as the WSLCB? Would they do better if they only had to concentrate on regulation and not retail.  One would hope.

Statewide statistics are not yet available for Pennsylvania for 2013 but they just came out for Washington and the data shows that alcohol impaired driver fatalities have gone down again, this time over 18% for the year. For the past 24 months, 18 of them since privatization, Washington State has decreased DUI fatalities by over 25% and PA has not.

Wake up Legislators.  The PLCB is not the only, nor has it ever been, the best way to do things.

Privatization Is REAL Modernization.

Wednesday morning: privatization 'debate' on WHYY's Radio Times

I've just been asked to be on WHYY-FM's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane program to discuss privatization of the PLCB. The show will be this Wednesday at 11 AM. They're working on getting someone on the other side; so far, the candidates have not been "stakeholders," but rather just interested parties like me. So that's cool, because I don't really intend to debate Wendell W. Young IV, or Joe Da ex-CEO Conti. Ever. And here's why:


It's a call-in show, and if you can, please, come up with some good questions -- NOT "I want privatization!" or "The State Stores Suck!" statements, like the lame-o stuff the State Store Supporters call in with -- and do call in. Some sample questions: Why are the private license fees so high? What's the deal with privatizing wholesale? If the past is any indicator, the phone lines will be filled with pro-State Store callers (who have nothing better to do than call these shows and don yellow t-shirts to shout at people at the Capitol), and I'd be appreciative of a friendly voice!

Here's the number: 1-888-477-9499. Listen in -- on the radio, or on the Web -- and give us a call!

Just Imagine...

If you had a clean slate, could lay things down the way you think would be best for selling alcohol beverages in Pennsylvania...how would you do it? I heard that question asked recently at a small discussion of the prospects of PLCB privatization, and it gave me pause.

Some things were easy. Would I keep the state-owned stores? Certainly not. Would I ever have the State as the sole wholesaler, with a committee in Harrisburg deciding what would and wouldn't be sold in the state? Don't be ridiculous. Would I keep the police-enforced monopoly, making it illegal for Pennsylvanians to buy a bottle of wine across the river in New Jersey? Not on your life. Would any of us keep the nonsensical case law, or its equally ridiculous corollary, the two sixpack limit at bars? Hell no, done away with, along with "registration"!

But... Would I want anyone who wanted to be able to sell beer, wine, or spirits, by the bottle or by the drink, with no limit other than a small fee and maybe a criminal background check? Should municipalities (of whatever size) be able to control that through zoning? What about BYOB and corkage fees? Would I impose excise taxes? Wholesaler franchise laws, brewery/winery self-distribution, hell, the whole idea of the state-imposed three-tier system: keep it, modify it, or toss it out the window? Honestly, there are things that cause me some head-scratching. I like the idea of no license limitations and a small fee: I've already said that I think licensing limitations lead directly to nuisance bars. But if a majority of people in a town really want to put a limit on the number of licensed bars/restaurants/booze stores, shouldn't they be allowed to? It's their town! Truly, the Devil is in the details.

However...hard as it was for me to answer the question, the pro-PLCB side found it even harder. There are just too many contradictions in the current system to put it forward as the ideal situation with a straight face. Government control of retail? If it's good, why not government control of beer sales? Why not government control of by-the-drink sales? And believe me, no one wants the government controlling that. Can you imagine PLCB clerks as bartenders? The mind boggles. They certainly couldn't call it "the hospitality industry" anymore...

If you grant control, and manage to come up with a cogent argument for it, how on earth do you then task the very same agency with regulation, taxation, and regulation of booze sales with an eye towards -- literally -- controlling how much people drink? Does anyone really think an agency that's supposed to be keeping us from drinking too much, that was created "for the protection of the public welfare, health, peace and morals of the people of the Commonwealth and to prohibit forever the open saloon," (as the Almighty Liquor Code puts it), is the agency that should also be advertising the idea of buying mom a bottle of vodka for Mother's Day?

I've said I wouldn't want to debate President For Life Wendell W. Young IV about privatization --  the man is just too glib a liar -- but it would almost be worth it to sandbag him with that question: if you could wipe away the Pennsylvania Liquor Code and build a new way of doing alcohol beverage retail from zero...would you create the PLCB and the State Store System, the beer distributors and tavern licensing, and the case law? Love to see a pro-PLCB answer to that one that wouldn't have the audience laughing their asses off.

Next month: beer law forum at Yards Brewing

If you're in the Philly metro area, you ought to join us at Yards Brewing on November 8, at 7 PM for another Beer Laws Forum, put on by Philly Beer Scene. Here's the scoop:

Join us for the 2nd of our Beer Laws Forums. Last February we had an open forum discussing the different beer laws affecting Pennsylvania. Senator Chuck McIlhinney who writes our Beer Laws column and Lew Bryson answered questions and Tom Kehoe of Yards moderated.
For this forum, Tom, Lew and the Senator have all generously agreed to once again sit on the panel, and this time will be joined by Bill Covaleski, of Victory Brewing Co who will be representing the Brewers of Pennsylvania, and Mike Gretz Sr. of Gretz Beer Distributors, who will be representing things from the wholesalers point of view. The forum is open to the public and we will do our best to answer everyone's questions.
The event will be held at the Yards Brewing Co. tasting room and the bar will be open for the event. 

You should come, because this is a chance to find out what's really going on with liquor law in the Keystone State. We are in an activist phase in the legislature with regards to the Liquor Code; things ARE changing...but not the case law, and not its even more ridiculous corollary, the "only 2 sixpacks law" that says if you want to buy more than 192 oz. of beer to go at a bar...you have to buy two sixers, step outside, then come back in and buy more. 

I want at least one of you to ask the Senator what the chances are of killing or even significantly changing the case law by this time next year. He'll say it's not going to happen this year...then I'll do my bit and ask him "Why not?" Then, most importantly, I'll ask Tom, Bill, and Mike what their position is on the case law. 

We all want sixpack sales. We'd really like beer sales of any volume at grocery stores (and convenience stores and gas stations and drugstores; you know, like they do in other states?), although we know that's not likely. But why can't we get sixpack sales? You need to ask the Senator, then go home and ask your legislator the same question. And don't settle for "No." Ask why. 

And while you're at Yards, do what I do: drink plenty of Brawler. It's my debating beer of choice.

Debating PJ Stapleton on Privatization

If you didn't catch me on WHYY's Radio Times show this morning, well, I think it went pretty well. They did a show on the PLCB's desperate attempt to stave off privatization -- and despite what PJ Stapleton said this morning about they're just an agency, not trying to shape the debate or anything, it's very hard not to see this burst of ideas to make the PLCB suddenly more like a private system as anything but a desperate attempt for everyone to keep their jobs...by keeping us under their thumbs.

Stapleton wants more stores open on Sundays, for longer. He wants more wine kiosks in stores. He says he is in favor of home delivery of wine (watch carefully, though: that one promises more than he can deliver). He wants the PLCB freed from civil service requirements so he can hire wonderful people who love wine! It's this program that I think I'm going to call the FDI: the PLCB's False Dawn Initiative. After Stapleton laid it all out, they brought me on to lay it all waste.

You can listen to the show here. I came in about 15 minutes into it, a replacement for Senator Turzai, who's spearheading privatization in the Legislature, but couldn't make it today. Like I said, I thought I did well, but there were so many things I just didn't have time for! Like all this:

•      Lack of choice. Not just what’s on the shelf: there is no other option. I actually did get to this one, but Stapleton either just didn't get it, or was evading it. All he wanted to talk about was the selection on the shelf and the "wonderful" SLO system.
•      Not enough stores. There are more stores in Delaware, more stores in Chicago alone.
•      Lackadaisical service. Your training contract is an admission of this.     
•     No beer. In most other states, you can buy beer, wine, and liquor in the same place.
•      Unfair business practices. The wine kiosks — sad as they are — are only in stores anointed by the PLCB; Jose Garces is the only restaurateur to have a mini-State Store right in his BYOB.
•      Unfair business practices II. The PLCB is in charge of regulating a business that is, in effect, its competition: beer retail. However, the State Stores are not subject to enforcement actions by the BLCE because they are not “licensed establishments.”

And that's just the stuff I had in my notes. My main point? Why should we give you all this stuff to act like a private business...when we could just do away with you and have a private business?

We did do a little happy talk at the end: Stapleton and I agreed that the PA Liquor Code needs overhauled. We just see different needs. He thinks it needs to put more lipstick on his pig. Me? I'm thinking about pork chops and bacon for dinner.

Anyone know where I can debate Wendell?