Pennsylvania Legislature's 2011-2012 session will cause without action on legislation to allow state wine lovers to get direct shipments of product to their homes from vineyards in various states

Nevin Barich

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania , October 28, 2012 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) – The Legislature's 2011-12 session will come to a close without action on legislation to allow Pennsylvania wine lovers to get direct shipments of the product to their homes from vineyards in California and other states.

Two measures were introduced this session that also would have benefited Pennsylvania's 140 family-owned wineries by allowing reciprocity agreements so they could ship their products directly to customers in other states.

"It's mind-boggling" that after two years, legislators still haven't enacted a direct shipment bill, said state Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie, who introduced one of two measures.

"Wine consumers should be able to shop conveniently," she added.

Rep. Curt Sonney, also R-Erie, pushed a similar bill in the House, saying it would benefit both Pennsylvania wine buyers and wineries. Many vineyards are in northwestern Pennsylvania and want to sell products to out-of-state customers, he said.

Even though the current session isn't officially over until Nov. 30, the 203 House members and 50 senators went home Oct. 17 to campaign for re-election. The Senate won't be back after the Nov. 6 election, and while the House is due back on Nov. 13, no more votes on bills are scheduled.

"There is absolutely no reason in the world why Pennsylvania shouldn't have direct shipment of wine to consumers, as most other states have," Ms. Earll said.

Marcia Lampman, executive director of the House Liquor Control Committee, said legislators get a lot of requests from constituents who want to purchase directly from out of state, especially from California, which has the famous Napa Valley and other areas known for their wine.

The Earll bill passed the Senate in May but then never got out of a House committee. The Sonney bill was set for a vote on the House floor in mid-October, but House members adjourned Oct. 17 without voting on it.

Ms. Earll is retiring from the Legislature Nov. 30, but Mr. Sonney said he'll try again for direct shipment in the new session.

Jennifer Eckinger, executive director of the Pennsylvania Winery Association, which represents Pennsylvania winemakers, said her group continues to support direct shipment of wines "and we will work with all parties in the next session toward that goal."

In-state wineries now can ship their products directly to Pennsylvania consumers, adding the state's 6 percent sales tax. People who want to buy wine from another state must have it shipped to the nearest state Liquor Control Board store, where the buyer picks it up and pays both the sales tax and Pennsylvania's special 18 percent liquor tax, also known as the Johnstown flood tax.

Under both direct shipment bills, in-state and out-of-state wineries could have shipped directly to customers' homes, but both would have to charge the sales tax and the liquor tax.

Some critics feared buyers under the legal age of 21 might order wine by phone or online, but the bills would have required delivery firms such as UPS to ensure the recipient proves his or her age.

Ms. Earll expressed regret that her bill didn't get much attention in the House. She said direct shipment should be voted on by itself and not tied to ongoing legislative effort to privatize wine and liquor sales.

"Direct shipment would have been one step forward without waiting for the whole issue of privatization," she said. "Why we wouldn't want to take that one step forward is beyond me."

Some Republicans said the direct shipment bill ran into trouble precisely because it got caught up in the bigger and more controversial debate over privatization. House Republican leader Mike Turzai has tried for most of the two-year session to privatize wine and liquor sales in Pennsylvania -- something that has been tried and failed for at least 30 years -- but he couldn't get enough votes from colleagues, even though Gov. Tom Corbett also supports privatization.

Mr. Turzai had a bill to create 1,600 privately owned stores to sell wine and liquor instead of the 620 stores now owned and run by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, but he wasn't able to round up a minimum of 102 House GOP votes to get it passed. The union representing LCB workers strongly lobbied lawmakers against the bill.

One Republican legislator, speaking privately, said it appeared Mr. Turzai was "holding the direct-shipment bill hostage" as a way to get leverage for privatization.

Turzai aide Steve Miskin said direct shipment of wine is an important issue to the House leader and the issue will be pushed in 2013. He said a new bill by Mr. Sonney will likely be offered.

Mr. Miskin said many House Republicans, not just from the northwest but from the Lehigh Valley, Lancaster County and other areas, "are actively advocating for the direct shipment bill. We are going to take a run at it next year. We just ran out of time this year."

Mr. Miskin said Ms. Earll's complaints are unfounded, adding that it's strange to learn her criticism from a reporter because "she never called or visited our offices to push for her bill. We never heard from her."

Mr. Turzai's chief of staff, Christian Callahan, said the direct shipment of wine bill "is a consumer convenience measure" that Mr. Turzai supports.

"Anything dealing with convenience for consumers is a priority for him," he added.

Tom Barnes: hickeybarnes@yahoo.com or 717-623-1238.

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