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80 WINES&VINES April 2015 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS WINE EAST H arrisburg, Pa.—The Penn- sylvania House of Repre- sentatives voted 114-87 on Feb. 26 to pass House Bill 466 that would end the state's mo- nopoly on the sales of wine and liquor. It is only the second time since the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board was established in 1933 that either legislative body has passed a bill to privatize the more than 600 state-controlled stores. In March 2013, the Pennsylvania House passed such a bill, and those favoring privatization were hopeful that the Senate would also pass it and then-Gov. Tom Corbett would sign it. That never happened, even though the Sen- ate, like the House, had a Repub- lican majority and Corbett was a Republican governor who sup- ported privatization. Two years later, the majority of legislators in Pennsylvania's House and Senate are still Republicans, but the new governor, Tom Wolf, is a Democrat who has stated his opposition to fully privatizing Pennsylvania's state stores. Instead, Gov. Wolf has said he would prefer to "modernize" the state store system and that he will veto any measure that would get the state out of the business of selling wine and liquor. It is not entirely clear what he and other Democrats mean by "modernization" of the system. Earlier in February, Wolf stated: "I'm for Sunday sales. I'm for fig- uring out how we can open up state stores in supermarkets. I'm for direct sales. I'm for finding ways to make this better for our consumers." This statement may sound similar to different items in the privatization bill, but it still leaves the state of Pennsylvania in the role of selling the products they are regulating. —Linda Jones McKee House Passes Bill to End Pennsylvania's Wine Monopoly miwinebarrel.com Stainless Steel & Oak Wine Barrels... Midwest, East Coast, Great Lakes, Canada... miwinebarrel 734.398.2028 We now also provide... Custom Stainless Steel Tanks! Get the packaging supplies you need, when you need them. Introducing Fast From Stock, our new inventory management tool that guarantees same-day shipping of top-selling wine bottles, closures, PVC's and hard-to-get spirit bottles. Fast delivery just got faster. www.FastFromStock.com • 888-539-3922