US: Pa. senators win key vote on wine, liquor bill

(TimesHerald) - Republican state senators won a key vote early Saturday morning on a provision to allow private store sales of wine and liquor in Pennsylvania after GOP leaders spent hours through the night seeking enough support to break the state’s Depression-era control of the goods.

Republican senators agreed to suspend a rule that otherwise stops debate at 11 p.m. after they were told that Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, had finally secured the 26 votes necessary to pass an amendment to an underlying bill that lacked the support. Pileggi had worked for days to win over skeptical Republicans before Sunday night, when the state’s fiscal year ends and lawmakers plan to leave Harrisburg until fall.

The 27-23 vote after 1:20 a.m. fell along party lines. The bill still needs full House and Senate approval to reach Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk.

Republican senators were under pressure from Corbett, a Republican, to produce a bill to privatize liquor and wine sales, one of his top legislative priorities. But they were also driven by a desire to encourage House passage of a proposal to generate billions of dollars for transportation projects by increasing a wholesale tax on motor fuels.

The two issues are indirectly linked: Senate Republicans have made a transportation bill a top priority while House GOP leaders helped lead efforts to privatize the state-controlled liquor and wine system. The House passed a wine and liquor privatization bill in March that had little support in the Senate.

Republican state senators won a key vote early Saturday morning on a provision to allow private store sales of wine and liquor in Pennsylvania after GOP leaders spent hours through the night seeking enough support to break the state’s Depression-era control of the goods.Republican senators agreed to suspend a rule that otherwise stops debate at 11 p.m. after they were told that Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, had finally secured the 26 votes necessary to pass an amendment to an underlying bill that lacked the support. Pileggi had worked for days to win over skeptical Republicans before Sunday night, when the state’s fiscal year ends and lawmakers plan to leave Harrisburg until fall.

The 27-23 vote after 1:20 a.m. fell along party lines. The bill still needs full House and Senate approval to reach Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk.

Republican senators were under pressure from Corbett, a Republican, to produce a bill to privatize liquor and wine sales, one of his top legislative priorities. But they were also driven by a desire to encourage House passage of a proposal to generate billions of dollars for transportation projects by increasing a wholesale tax on motor fuels.

The two issues are indirectly linked: Senate Republicans have made a transportation bill a top priority while House GOP leaders helped lead efforts to privatize the state-controlled liquor and wine system. The House passed a wine and liquor privatization bill in March that had little support in the Senate.