Below are bills currently in the PA House and Senate that have a possible negative effect on the overall State Store System in Pennsylvania.
House Bill 1690 (Printer’s Number 2559, 2516, 2623, 2653 – current)
| Privatization: | Permits establishments with restaurant licenses (including grocery stores) to sell up to four bottles of wine for off-premise consumption; Removes restrictions on the hours and days of operation of the state stores; Eliminates the holidays on which state stores are statutorily closed; Allows for lottery sales at state-run liquor stores; Permits wine, liquor and beer to be sold or served in casinos 24-hours a day, seven days a week; Permits the direct shipment of wine to consumers; Requires a liquor study commission to report to the General Assembly within six months on various issues relative to the current system including its financial stability. | |
| Sponsors: | Turzai (R-Allegheny) – Prime Sponsor Bloom Cutler Hickernell Greiner A. Harris Milne Moul Saylor Sankey Corbin | Rose Everett Lawrence Dunbar Truitt Quigley Lewis Mackenzie |
| History: | Referred to House Liquor Control Committee – November 12, 2015 First consideration – November 16, 2015 [Voted out of House Liquor Control Committee (14-9) – November 16, 2015] Second consideration with amendments – November 18, 2015 Third consideration and final passage in the House(110-86) – November 19, 2015 Referred to Senate Law & Justice Committee – November 20, 2015 Reported as Amended and First Consideration – December 5, 2015 Second consideration – December 6, 2015 Re-committed to Senate Law & Justice – December 6, 2015 Re-reported as Amended – December 9, 2015 Re-referred to Appropriations – Decemebr 9, 2015 Re-reported as Committed – December 10, 2015 Third consideration and final passage in the Senate (29-21) – December 10, 2015 Referred to Rules – December 13, 2015 Re-reported on Concurrance – June 7, 2016 House concurred in Senate amendments – June 7, 2016 (157-31) Signed in the House – June 7, 2016 Signed in the Senate – June 7, 2016 Approved by the Govenor – June 8, 2016 – Act No. 39 |
Senate Bill 908 (Printer’s Number 1069)
| Divests the retail and wholesale divisions of the PLCB. Permits existing beer distributors, and restaurant and hotel licensees to sell wine and liquor upon obtaining a retail permit. Beer distributors who purchase a permit would be permitted to sell an unlimited amount of wine and/or liquor. Restaurant and hotel licensees who purchase a permit would be permitted to sell up to three liters of wine and/or liquor for off-premise consumption. | ||
| Sponsors: | Wagner (R-York) – Prime Sponsor Mensch Stefano Vulakovich Scarnati | Alloway Eichelberger White Bartolotta Ward |
| History: | Referred to Senate Law & Justice Committee – June 22, 2015 |
Senate Bill 189 (Printer’s Number 181,1827,1851 – current)
| Allows for the direct shipment of any wine to a consumer for personal consumption – up to thirty-six cases of up to nine liters per case in a calendar year – from both in-state and out-of-state wineries who opbatin a permit. Requires proof of age for delivery. Removes the 18% tax on wne ordered through direct shipment and adds a $1.00 per gallon excise tax. Permits vendors to deliver special liquor orders directly to consumers. | ||
| Sponsors: | Sonney (D-Erie) – Prime Sponsor Barrar Costa, D. Ellis Grell Harris, A. James Killion Knowles Mackenzie Marsico Millard O’Brian O’Neill | Sainato Saylor DeLuca Simmons Oberlander Kirkland Truitt Moul Gibbons Kortz Farry Miccarelli Davis |
| History: | Referred to House Liquor Control Committee – January 23, 2015 First Consideration – April 22, 2015 Second Consideration – May 6, 2015 Third Consideration and Final Passage (192-1) – May 11, 2015 Referred to Senate Law & Justice Committee – May 20, 2015 Reported as Amended and First Consideration – June 16, 2015 Re-Reported from Senate Appropriations as Amended – June 22, 2015 Second Consideration – June 23, 2015 Third Consideration and final passage (31-18) – June 24, 2015 |
Senate Bill 15 (Printer’s Number 513)
| Encourages the locating of state stores within commercial locations (including grocery stores); Excludes Martin Luther King Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day as holidays the state stores are closed; Removes 25% restriction on the number of state stores that can open on Sundays; Extends Sunday operating hours from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Establishes customer loyalty program offering discounts and incentives; Permits lottery ticket sales in state stores; Permits PLCB to offer flexible pricing on products sold in state stores as long as they are uniform; Increases licensee discount from 10% to 16%; Provides for direct shipment of wine; Allows distributors to sell packages of beer less than a case and taverns and restaurants to sell up to twenty-four bottles to a single person. | ||
| Sponsors: | Brewster (D-Allegheny) – Prime Sponsor Yudichak Teplitz Fontana Hughes Farnese Tartaglione Blake Costa Leach | Schwank Williams Smith Wozniak Haywood Kitchen Dinniman Wiley Boscola |
| History: | Referred to Senate Law & Justice Committee – February 25, 2015 |
House Bill 466 (Printer’s Number 511, 521, 1985 – current)
| Privatization: | Divests the retail and wholesale divisions of the PLCB; Establishes 1200 wine and spirits retail licenses available first to beer distributors and then to the general public one year following enactment with an additional 600 licenses available as state store operations cease; Establishes a grocery store license to allow grocery stores to sell wine for off-premise consumption; Establishes operating hours for wine and spirits retail licenses from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday; Increases licensee discount from 10% to 14%; Identification scan machines must be used by wine and spirits retail licensees for all sales to persons appearing under the age of 35; Establishes a wine-to-go permit for current hotel and restaurant license holders – as long as the restaurant licensee does not have an interior connection to another licensed business; Eliminates the prohibition of the sale of alcohol at locations with a gas pump; permits out of state alcohol purchases as long as all Pennsylvania taxes are paid; Establishes a transition team to assist displaced state store employees; Displaced employees will be given three additional points on a Civil Service exam and preference for a state position that does not require a Civil Service exam as long as they meet the requisite requirements; Provides two-year educational grant to displaced employees. | |
| Sponsors: | Turzai (R-Allegheny) – Prime Sponsor Reed (R-Indiana) – Prime Sponsor Adolph Benninghoff Cutler Ellis Major Oberlander Mustio Baker Barrar Bloom Corbin Delozier Diamond Dunbar Dush Emrick English Evankovich Everett Fee Gabler Gillespie Grenier Grove Harper A. Harris Heffley Helm Hickernell Phillips-Hill Kampf Kauffman F. Keller Killion Klunk | Knowles Lawrence Mackenzie Marshall Masser McGinnis Mentzer Metcalfe Millard Milne Moul Nesbit Ortitay Payne Peifer Pickett Quigley Rapp Reese Regan Roae Ross Saccone Sankey Saylor Schemel Simmons Sonney Staats Tallman Tobash Toepel Toohil Topper Truitt Watson |
| History: | Referred to House Liquor Control Committee – February 12, 2015 Voted Favorably from House Liquor Control Committee – February 23, 2015 Second Consideration – February 25, 2015 Third Consideration and Final Passage (114-87) – February 26, 2015 Referred to Senate Law & Justice Committee – February 27, 2015 Reported as Amended and First Consideration – June 28, 2015 Re-Referred to Senate Appropriations – June 28, 2015 Re-Reported from Senate Appropriations as Committed – June 29, 2015 Second Consideration – June 29, 2015 Third Consideration and Final Passage in the Senate – June 30, 2015 Referred to House Rules Committee, Re-Reported on Concurrence as Committed, House Concurred in Senate Amendments (113-82) – June 30, 2015 Signed in the House – June 30, 2015 Signed in the Senate – June 30, 2015 Presented to the Governor – June 30, 2015 Vetoed by the Governor – July 2, 2015 |