Just as it seems as if it’s all but over for Pennsylvania’s Liquor Control Board, there’s a glimmer that the beleaguered booze bureau might be getting a second lease on life. Did the Corbett administration have a change of heart? Hardly. It still views the agency as a multimillion dollar cash suck, and still prefers pushing alcohol sales over to the private sector. But even with a newly installed pro-privatization chairman sworn in this week, don’t expect the LCB to go away any time soon.
Though House Majority Leader Mike Turzai ponied up a privatization plan over the summer, and a study commissioned by the Corbett administration calls for getting the state out of the booze business, Philly.com reports that the issue has become something of a low priority for lawmakers. And even if a plausible privatization plan clears the state house, it faces a tough battle in the senate. Right now the LCB’s new chairman, Joseph E. “Skip” Brion, is saying his primary focus will be making the board more profitable and modernizing liquor stores. And that sounds awfully a lot like the LCB’s own formula for surviving. Go figure. [Philly.com]
Ealrier: Pour One Out For the LCB
