Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/137110
WineEastNews across Texas are striking them down for good," said council vice president Dale Szyndrowksi. "These elections reflect modern demographics, and we expect the trend will continue as voters and policymakers seek convenience and revenue, respectively." Preparing for privatization In Pennsylvania, voters in three municipalities in Lancaster and York counties voted May 21 to allow the sale of alcohol. While Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to privatize state-owned liquor stores has not yet passed the Pennsylvania state Senate, the fact that privatization is on the table was incentive enough for some businesses to push for an end to local liquor bans. Dallastown and Dillsburg in York County voted to go "wet," as did Pequea Township in Lancaster County. The owners of a local beer distributorship in Lancaster County pushed for having the township change from dry to wet in order to expand their businesses. If PennsylvaniaAM Waterloo_Nov10.qxp 8/26/10 11:36 Liquor Control Board stores were 76 W in e s & V i ne s J U LY 2 0 13 In spite of opposition from the group Save Plano, residents of Plano, Texas, voted to allow liquor sales within city limits. privatized, grocery stores, convenience stores, pharmacies and big-box stores would get the right to bid for licenses to sell beer and wine. Change in liquor laws has come very slowly to Pennsylvania. In 2009, West Lampeter Township in Lancaster County and Warrington Township in York County Page 1 were the first municipalities to vote to end liquor bans since the end of Prohibition in 1933. The lifting of the alcohol ban in West Lampeter was the result of economic incentives: The owners of the Willow Valley Resort wanted to bring in a DoubleTree Resort hotel, and local residents understood that allowing alcohol to be purchased and served locally could result in more jobs for members of the community. Other alcohol restrictions are slowly being reversed as well. Lawmakers in 16 states have passed bills since 2002 that allow for Sunday alcohol sales, the most recent being Connecticut, which approved Sunday sales last year. Across the country, 33 states allow individual counties to ban liquor sales; in Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, all counties are dry unless a county specifically authorizes the sale of alcohol. Pennsylvania has no dry counties, but it does have a number of dry municipalities, while Texas has a patchwork of local restrictions in its 254 counties, including both wet and dry counties and a large number of partially dry counties. —Linda Jones McKee