If you thought getting a license to sell liquor in New York was a pain in the ass, consider how bad our neighbors have it: The Wall Street Journal reports that in New Jersey, a decades-old law limits licenses to one per every 3,000 people. Though some want the law changed to at least allow more beer and wine (rather than full liquor) licenses, others believe it wouldn’t be fair to the operators who’ve shelled out as much as $500,000 to get their hands on one of the rare permits, and besides, thrifyJerseyites are used to a bevy of BYOB options. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the Times enlightens us to another post-Prohibition quirk: That state’s liquor stores are operated by the government, meaning they’re poorly stocked, keep dopey hours, and aren’t as ubiquitous as they could be. The question is: Does the state sell the stores and net a sorely needed $2 billion, or does it keep them in order to continue generating $90 million a year in profits? Either way, our State Liquor Authority and its backlog isn’t looking so bad now, is it?
A Push to Privatize Pennsylvania Liquor Stores [NYT]
NJ BYOB Gets Check [WSJ]
