The Post-Gazette’s latest diatribe on liquor privatization marks a new low in your Ahab-like obsession with this issue (“Wolf vs. Pa.,” July 5).
Gov. Tom Wolf made the right decision in vetoing legislation that would result in raising prices on wine and spirits and jeopardize 5,000 family-sustaining jobs. The governor did his research. The PG? Not so much.
You lead readers to believe the governor stands alone. But the Pennsylvania DUI Association, the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Commonwealth Prevention Alliance, among many others, opposed this bill.
Last month’s Franklin & Marshall poll found 1 percent of registered voters believe “privatizing the state liquor stores” should be a top priority.
A previous F&M poll found 57 percent of the state’s voters believe the state-owned liquor stores should continue as they are (31 percent) or be modernized (26 percent) than believe they should be sold to private companies (37 percent).
You imply the governor is incorrect in believing prices will increase. You ignore what happened in Iowa, West Virginia and most recently Washington state, where prices have increased dramatically after privatization.
You fail to note the report by Public Financial Management, commissioned by former Gov. Tom Corbett, which found prices would increase in many parts of the state, millions in revenue would be lost and thousands of jobs would be eliminated.
It is time to let the obsession go.
WENDELL W. YOUNG IV
President
United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1776
Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
First Published: July 9, 2015, 4:00 a.m.