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PRIVATIZING Virginia's ABC stores? State Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw has some pretty firm feelings about the subject: "He [Gov. Bob McDonnell] can call a special session [for that purpose], but he's not going to get what he wants."
Selling off state liquor stores is a large part of the governor's scheme to build and repair Virginia's lagging transportation system. But, notes Mr. Saslaw, the stores put up to $150 million a year in state coffers. Mr. McDonnell's plan sells the cow, but prevents the state henceforth from selling milk. It's a bit of a gimmick that's not very far-sighted. Libertarians would love it, but they are being culturally obtuse.
Liquor, hooch, firewater--whatever label you put on it, it's in a different category than the million other things that the nation never outlawed for 13 years and that most states and localities even today keep a close eye on. Almost all states--even if they have "privatized" liquor outlets--still exert control on alcohol sales by restricting hours, banning Sunday sales, retaining wholesale monopolies, and so on.
That's because alcohol is something unique in our society--a legal recreational drug whose consumption leads to inebriation and to all the dangers unleashed by impaired judgment. Alcohol addiction can cause job and family loss and early death. On balance, alcohol may be a plus, a catalyst to conviviality, a stress reliever--but there's no denying its propensity for tragic misuse.
By controlling alcoholic beverages-- by "C"ing the "A" and "B"--in their most potent form, the state imbeds in the social subconscious the reality of alcohol's special hazard. Booze is so tricky, society observes, that the state itself stands a wary guard over it.
This role is located on the periphery of the state's primary mandate--ensuring public safety. Just under that duty as a basic state function justifying general taxation is road building and upkeep. An increase in the state gasoline tax and tolling are logical ways to indefinitely strengthen Virginia's mobility grid. Selling off the lucrative liquor stores may bring short-term joy, but soon the state budget will be singing "How Dry I Am."
