HARRISBURG – The ongoing legislative fight over the proposed overhaul of Pennsylvania's state-run wine and spirits stores has meant big bucks being spent by interest groups to lobby lawmakers in Harrisburg, says an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
According to lobbying disclosure reports, supermarkets, convenience stores, labor unions, beer distributors, beer manufacturers and alcohol-related trade associations have spent millions on lobbying since the beginning of last year. The exact amount is difficult quantify due to the vagueness of lobbying expense disclosure.
Pennsylvania House Republicans last year passed legislation that would allow private sales of wine and liquor while phasing out state stores. That plan would create 1,200 licenses for the sale of wine and spirits, first available to beer distributors, with the possibility of up to 600 additional licenses. It creates a system for phasing out the approximately 600 state stores as private sellers open.
The bill crafted by the House has been unsuccessful in the Senate, however. Efforts continue in the Senate's majority Republican caucus to craft a plan that can win 26 votes, the number needed to pass legislation in the 50-member chamber. The most recent proposal under discussion would have kept hard liquor in state stores but expanded the availability of beer and wine to additional retail outlets. Until any agreement is reached, lobbying will likely continue in earnest.
Among the biggest spenders have been supermarkets, which are hopeful any eventual overhaul would allow them to sell more types of alcohol, such as wine, in their grocery stores. Wegmans supermarket, which has 16 Pennsylvania locations, spent more than $300,000 since the beginning of 2013 on alcohol-related lobbying expenditures, according to disclosure forms. A company spokeswoman told the Post-Gazette that the costs are "focused on providing factual information to legislators and staff. Given the disparate interest groups engaged in the debate, we think it's important that decision-makers know what consumers are looking for."
Pennsylvania's lobbying disclosure rules don't require lobbyists to list a specific bill they lobbied on but only the general subject of the lobbying. Some forms that the newspaper examined list broad categories such as "state government," "taxes" or "business" as the topic of the lobbying, making the exact amount of spending on some issues difficult to determine. If multiple topics are listed, the law doesn't require a breakdown of how much money was spent on each topic.
For instance, retail giant Walmart spent more than $156,000 on lobbying in Harrisburg since the beginning of last year on topics including alcoholic beverages, energy, health care, labor, pharmaceuticals and taxation, according to disclosure forms.
Sheetz spent $203,622 lobbying on "alcoholic beverages" since the beginning of last year. Much of that cost is listed as "indirect communication," which the lobbying disclosure act defines as any effort to encourage others, such as the general public, to contact legislators about a particular bill or issue and can include spending such as advertising or other public education efforts.
"It's a customer need," said Ryan Sheetz, the company's brand director, in an interview with the Post-Gazette. "Our customers have told us that they want this," he said of beer sales in gas stations.
Wawa spent $65,373 on lobbying in the same period, with the subject listed on disclosure forms as "retail."
Not surprisingly, labor unions representing state store workers and managers have also spent big money lobbying — against the privatization efforts. The United Food and Commercial Workers, which has two chapters that represent state store workers, spent $404,277 lobbying since the start of 2013, listing the subject of its lobbying as "labor." The Independent State Store Union, which represents state store managers, lists $113,209 in lobbying expenditure during the same period, with "labor, state government" as the subjects of its lobbying.
A number of trade groups also have lobbied on the matter, including the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association; the Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania, which represents beer distributorships; the Pennsylvania Beer Alliance, which represents wholesale beer distributors; the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association, which represents taverns, restaurants and other beer and liquor license holders.
Other interests that spent big on lobbying, according to disclosure forms, were Diageo, Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors. Anheuser-Busch wants to ensure that any changes — for example, allowing wine to be sold in grocery stores or other retail outlets — also would allow beer to be sold that way as well.