PA Senate To Discuss Reforming Alcohol Sales
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG (CBS) -- Reform of liquor sales is expected to be discussed in the state Senate this week and those discussions are expected to center on beer and wine sales as opposed to shutting down the state store system.
The issue of reforming alcohol sales has run hot and cold in the legislature since the House passed a privatization bill more than a year ago.
But Erik Arneson, spokesman for Chester Republican Dominic Pileggi, the Senate majority leader, says the focus in the Senate now is less about privatizing sales of liquor and more about allowing beer and wine to be sold in grocery stores and other new locations.
Arneson says "Senator Pileggi has been, for some time, focused mostly on what he thinks people really want out of these reforms, which is to make it more convenient to buy beer and wine in Pennsylvania and that is absolutely the direction that conversations have been going in recent weeks."
Arneson says a Senate vote on the issue is possible this week or next.