Acknowledging that he lacks the votes needed to privatize Virginia’s liquor stores, Gov. Bob McDonnell decided against calling a special session of the General Assembly to deal with the issue this year.
“We will privatize Virginia’s ABC stores,” McDonnell said. “The only question is one of timing.”
McDonnell said he would introduce his plan to end the state’s 76-year monopoly on liquor sales when the legislature convenes for its regular session in January. The governor has said he would only call the special session in November if he had the votes to pass his privatization plans. That plan ran into opposition from McDonnell’s fellow Republicans after financial projections showed that privatizing the stores would cost the state more than $40 million a year in lost revenue.
“As governor, I will not call a special session to debate; only to act,” the governor said. “Several recent special sessions ended without any positive action taken. That is a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Some legislators are waiting for additional information on the potential costs of the change in liquor sales.
Virginia House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, commended McDonnell for not wasting taxpayer dollars on a special session.
“I also continue to believe that convening a group of lawmakers, wholesalers, distillers, retailers and other interested parties to work on a bill for consideration in the 2011 session to accomplish this reform of state government makes sense,” Howell said.
Even if McDonnell waits until January to introduce his proposal, the plan is still likely to go down in defeat in the Democratic-controlled Senate, said Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax.
The governor has made privatizing the state-run liquor stores to raise money for transportation a priority of his first year in office. He originally pushed for a special session sometime in November to consider his plan along with other proposals to change the way government does business. But lawmakers were skeptical of the privatization plan, which McDonnell said would provide a one-time cash infusion of about $500 million, though financial projects show it would end up costing the state $47 million a year in lost revenue.
“We will introduce ABC privatization legislation on the first day of the 2011 General Assembly,” McDonnell said. “We will vigorously advocate for it. It is a common-sense initiative.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
