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Battle Lines Being Drawn Over Liquor Privatization

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The details of the plan may be new, but the arguments for and against liquor privatization are perennially similar.  “This is an agency that makes money, that continues to make more money every year,” UFCW Local 1776 President Wendell Young IV said while questioning the logic behind dismantling the state store system. 

The UFCW, which represents 3,500 employees at Pennsylvania’s wine & spirits shops, has been on the front lines of the privatization battle for years.  This time around, Young says the governor’s plan would not only jeopardize thousands of family-sustaining jobs, but it would drastically increase the number of alcohol outlets.  “If you think about what he proposed… you could wind up with 20 – 30,000 or more outlets in Pennsylvania selling wine or spirits.” 

As Senator Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny) did on the Senate floor, Wednesday, Young likens the Corbett plan to the “Wild West” of alcohol sales.    

The expansion of alcohol outlets has some worried about the effects of increased consumption.  “There is a large body of research that shows a relationship between increases in consumption and a whole host of alcohol-related problems,” says Deb Beck, President of the Drug & Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania.  “I don’t think one needs a lot of research to get that.”

Beck says a little inconvenience is a small price to pay, noting that Pennsylvania already has unmet needs when it comes to drug & alcohol treatment programs. 

While it may not be enough to assuage the concerns of privatization critics, Governor Tom Corbett’s plan would address both issues: employees and increased outlets. 

The plan calls for tax credits for business that employ displaced Liquor Control Board employees, education and civil service credits, as well as a new committee to help affected workers find re-employment. 

As for the increased number of alcohol retailers, the governor’s plan tries to balance it with increased enforcement measures.  They include stiffer penalties for selling booze to underage or visibly drunk persons, a requirement that new alcohol retailers must use ID scanners and a 75% increase in funding for treatment programs.    

If Corbett succeeds it would leave Utah as the only state to maintain complete control over its liquor system – from distribution to retail.

State Gov’t Transparency, Accountability Website Goes Live

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A website called “PennWATCH” is marking a new day transparency in state government.  The name is short for the Pennsylvania Web Accountability and Transparency Act, which passed the General Assembly unanimously and was signed into law in June 2011. 

The site was under development for over a year, until Governor Tom Corbett helped to flip-the-switch last week.  “It creates trust between the citizens and the government,” Corbett says.  “It allows people to understand – hopefully – policy, so that they can make informed decisions about how to be useful citizens in a democracy.  And, hopefully, it prevents scandal.” 

The goal, Corbett says, was to make PennWATCH user-friendly.  By logging on, the public can access government records on payments, contracts, budgets & revenues, and even state workers’ pay.   

Coming in early 2013, the employee salary information will be updated to reflect total compensation, which includes the cost of benefits. 

Secretary of Administration Kelly Powell Logan says updates to the PennWATCH site, which will not require additional legislative action, are already being considered. 

State officials have not compiled a cost estimate for the website, but Governor Corbett notes that all the work was done “in-house.”

Cash

Bill Would Block House Members’ COLA

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Each winter state lawmakers cash in on a pay raise thanks to a 1995 law that grants legislators, judges and the governor annual cost-of-living adjustments.  Multiple bills have been introduced to block these pay raises over the years, but none has seen the light of day.  This year State Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford) hopes to change that with a bill so narrowly focused, he believes it can pass.  “My legislation would stop that COLA for state House members just for this year,” Roae tells Radio PA. 

State Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford)

State. Rep. Brad Roae

“I just think that as state House members we should lead by example and help save a little bit of tax money by doing the same thing that a lot of other government employees are doing.”  Roae’s referring to the new state worker union contracts that call for a one-year pay freeze and the voluntary pay freeze that some school districts accepted this year.  Non-union state workers, meanwhile, haven’t seen a pay hike in several years. 

HB 1952 has been referred to the House State Government Committee, where Roae thinks it has enough votes to advance.  If the bill can pass the House, Roae doesn’t foresee any problems with the Senate or administration, since it only affects state Reps’ pay.  Pennsylvania state lawmakers currently earn just under $80,000 a year, before pocketing any per diems.   

The COLA’s, which are tied to the consumer price index, would take effect on December 1st.