Here are some photos from an HDPC public hearing on House Bill 790 on March 27 just days after the bill was introduced and rushed through the House. There is one of a standing room only crowd, clearly people are interested in this issue. Thanks to Abington's Big Top Beverage and Rep. Madeleine Dean for hosting us.
I encourage people to ask the House Republicans for pictures from their public hearing and see what they come up with.
Days after a marathon debate on liquor privatization
2.0, the Philadelphia Inquirer included an editorial
quoting some of my floor remarks, while I am flattered they were paying such
close attention, I’m concerned about the “facts” they used to reach their
conclusions, after all I’m sure the paper has nothing to gain from private
liquor sales (clearing my throat) so why would they ignore history or mislead their readers? While I wait for them to print my response countering
their claims, here are some details of the plan that passed in the state House
based off my floor comments and focused on the claims of improved consumer convenience. The GOP claims liquor privatization is all about
consumer convenience, but based on my calculations there are at least 20
different configurations of licenses possible under their plan. Depending on
what you want and when determines where you should go…How does this make things less confusing for
consumers?
1.Beer Distributor
(D) – sells cases of beer
2.Beer Distributor
(D) – sells cases of beer and unlimited wine
3.Beer Distributor
(D) - sells cases of beer and unlimited wine and unlimited spirits
4.Beer Distributor
(D) - sells cases of beer and unlimited spirits
5.Beer Distributor
(D) - sells down to a six pack of beer
6.Beer Distributor
(D) - sells down to a six pack of beer, and unlimited wine
7.Beer Distributor
(D) - sells down to a six pack of beer, unlimited wine and
unlimited spirits
8.Beer Distributor
(D) - sells down to a six pack of beer, unlimited spirits
9.Restaurants/Hotel
(R ) – sell 2 six packs of beer to go and opened bottle of spirits and
open bottles of wine
10.Restaurants/Hotel
(R ) – sell 2 six packs of beer to go and 4 bottles of sealed wine and open
bottles of spirits
11.Restaurant/Hotel
(R) - sell up to 4 six packs of beer and open bottle of spirits and
open bottles of wine
12.Restaurant/Hotel
(R) - sell up to 4 six packs of beer and 4 bottles of sealed wine and
open bottles of spirits to go
13.Grocery Store –
12 bottles of wine
14.Grocery Store
with a café (R ) – 2 six packs of beer, unsealed/open wine and unsealed/
open bottles of spirits
15.Grocery Store
with a café (R ) – 4 six packs of beer, and unsealed/open wine and spirits
16.Grocery Store
with an R license and a Grocery Store license - 2 six packs of beer,
unsealed/open wine and spirits to go and 12 bottles wine
17.Grocery store
with an R license and a Grocery Store license – 4 six packs of beer and 12
bottles wine, open wine and spirits to go
18.Wine and Spirit
Retailers – unlimited Wine only
19.Wine and Spirit
Retailers – unlimited Wine and unlimited Spirits
20.Wine and Spirit
Retailers - unlimited Spirits only
In other words under the plan there
would be:
Ø8 possible license configurations for beer
distributors
Ø4 possible license configurations for restaurants and
hotels
Ø5 possible license configurations for grocery stores
Ø3 possible license configurations for wine and spirits
retailers.
WAIT there’s MOre:
Since this plan is intended to make things less
complicated for consumer…
Q. What are the hours of operations for a wine and
spirit store Monday through Saturday? How about on Sunday?
Answer.
9 a.m. -11 p.m. Monday - Saturday
9 a.m.
– 9 p.m. if have Sunday permit No Sunday permit 11 a.m. -9 p.m.
Q. What about a beer distributor
Answer.
24 hours, Monday through Saturday
Sunday without permit 9 a.m.- 9 p.m.
Q. What about a beer distributor that sells wine and
spirits?
Answer:
9 a.m. – 11 p.m. Monday - Saturday
Sunday no permit 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sunday with permit 9 a.m. -11 p.m. but can’t
be 24 hours
Q. What about a grocery store?
Answer. 7 a.m. -11 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Sunday 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
with permit
Q. What if I go into a Grocery store that has an R
license and I want to buy a bottle of wine?
Answer:
7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday
Sunday without permit 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. Sunday with permit 9 a.m. – 2 a.m.
What is the age of employment
for the various licenses?
Wine and Spirit Retail Establishment -21 years old
Grocery Store with Unlimited Wine – 18 years old
Restaurant or Bar -18 years old
Beer Distributor- 18 years old
Beer Distributor that sells unlimited wine - 21 years old (*note difference with grocery store*)
Beer Distributor that sells wine and spirits - 21years old
