FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. – The chatter about selling Virginia’s state-owned liquor stores is getting louder.
A new plan from Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s office would put liquor licenses up for sale on three separate tiers of limited private licensing, which would then be sold to the highest bidders, according to the Associated Press.
The sale of the stores is expected to net between 300 and 500 million dollars for transportation revenues for the state’s dwindling highway maintenance fund.
That money would be a one-time payoff, but one local delegate believes residents would rather see annual returns on liquor sales instead of one lump sum payment.
“The bill is not going to pass if they can’t produce the money,” said Fairfax Del. Dave Albo, R-42nd. “The stores must produce $230 million per year, which is what they currently bring in. If they can’t, people are not going to want a trade off.”
Albo said the details of the fiscal impact on the state will be in a bill that has yet to be produced, which must be approved by the General Assembly if the stores are to be sold.
A final decision on what will be included in that bill is expected next month.
Selling the stores was a major talking point of McDonnell’s 2009 campaign, as he called the state-owned stores a “vestige left over from prohibition.”
