By David Grim, Contributing Writer

Late last week Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati (R- Jefferson) strongly voiced his opposition to the timing and substance of House Majority Leader Mike Turzai’s (R- Allegheny) liquor privatization bill.

Scarnati questioned whether the Commonwealth would receive the highest potential profit from the sale of state-run wine and spirits stores and suggested that affording those retail centers more flexibility in pricing, based on the product and geography, would be a more prudent initial reform.

“I don’t think that we have allowed the Liquor Control Board to run like a business,” he said. “We’re the ones with the handcuffs on them, and then we’re out there saying, ‘Well, this is an archaic, terrible system and doesn’t work.’  Well, take the handcuffs off of them, get the bottom line better, and you’ll get a better price.”

Turzai’s measure, introduced earlier this month, would auction off 1,250 licenses to private retailers, replacing the current 621 state stores. The House GOP leader has estimated that such an auction would generate approximately $2 billion in state revenue, a figure his opponents dispute.  The bill would replace the Liquor Control Board’s 30 percent markup and the 18 percent levee known as the “Johnstown flood tax” with a per-gallon tax that would range from $8.25 to $12.

Despite the skepticism in the revenue estimate, Turzai’s spokesman Steve Miskin believes money is not necessarily the main issue. “Whatever you get monetarily is icing on the cake,” Miskin said. “It’s not about getting the money. It’s about, ‘Should government be in this business?’”

Miskin predicted his boss’ bill will likely produce a House vote in October and proceed to the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) said Thursday that Scarnati’s view on the LCB does not necessarily reflect a consensus of Senate Republicans, who he said have diverse views on the issue.