Former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder is the latest to throw his support behind Gov. Bob McDonnell’s plan to privatize the state’s liquor stores.
Wilder was chairman of a governor’s commission in 2002 that had recommended privatizing the state’s liquor retail operation.
“The proposed plan offered by Governor McDonnell keeps significant ongoing revenue for the General Fund and I am confident his Commission on Government Reform will produce additional cost savings measures that will more than offset any difference,” Wilder said. “I also think that there should be no consideration of any increased taxes for the consumer. The threshold question that triggers the debate is whether the state should be in the liquor selling business anyway. I think that government has sufficient legitimate calls made upon it to provide for the safety, health and welfare of its citizens.”
