Op-Ed: Mike Turzai: Free the wine (for all grocery stores)
Posted: June 7, 2017
I read the March 23 Perspectives piece by Nicole Neily, president of Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity in Alexandria, Va., with interest (“Consumers on Ice: Pennsylvania’s Liquor Reforms Haven’t Addressed the Real Problem”). But I have to ask: Where was Ms. Neily when we were voting full privatization in the House on four separate occasions?
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed my legislation to privatize the sale of wine and spirits and eliminate the Liquor Control Board’s ability to sell wine and spirits on four separate occasions: House Bill 790 was passed on March 21, 2013; House Bill 466 was passed on Feb. 26, 2015; HB 466 was passed on concurrence on June 30, 2015, and put on the governor’s desk, which he promptly vetoed; lastly, House Bill 1690 was passed on Nov. 19, 2015, and sent to the Senate before it became the legislative vehicle for a “compromise.”