It may be a bumpy road to privatize Pa.’s liquor stores

Pennsylvania’s Governor-elect Tom Corbett plans to succeed where past lawmakers have failed: he wants to privatize the state’s liquor stores.

The Keystone State isn’t the only one eyeing up money in those bottles of gin.

Virginia lawmakers have a similar privatization battle on their hands.  “This whole thing’s like a Rubik’s Cube,” said David Albo, a state delegate from Fairfax County.  “It’s like this impossible puzzle: you fix one side of the puzzle and then five other sides are messed up,” he said. Albo supports the idea of privatizing the stores, but says there are a lot of things to figure out: like how to distribute the licenses throughout the state and to whom.”If you give the licenses strictly based on who pays the most, that means all the mom and pop grocery stores will never be able to afford these things,” he said.  “And they’re worried no one’s going to want to go to their stores now because you can go to a big box place and do all your shopping at one time.”Albo, a Republican, says the possibility of privatization has come up before.  He thinks the idea’s gained more traction and attention this time because Virginia’s Republican Governor made it a campaign promise.