Welcome! Formerly known as Libertas et Memoria, this is my blog on law, politics, faith, culture and the joys of the Inland Northwest.
Friday, July 27, 2012
So, how is the private sale of liquor going in Washington State?
Washington recently changed its law to abolish its state-run liquor stores and permit private stores (including grocery stores and mega stores like Costco and Walmart) to sell liquor. And this policy has created a boom for consumers, but not in Washington. Instead, as this story from the Spokane Spokesman-Review notes, Washington consumers are flooding over the border to Idaho to buy booze. It turns out that Idaho's state liquor stores provide alcohol at a cheeper price. The free market in booze isn't turning out to be that big of a benefit for consumers in Washington State.
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2 comments:
They're hiding the booze in the box of dish washing detergent they also bought!
Honestly, Mark - I had no idea they were adding on all those fees and taxes (I never read the whole thing because I didn't have a dog in the fight.)
What a stupid thing they did!!
But, then again - good for Idaho.
Good business for Idaho indeed! The extra taxes and fees were necessary to keep the proposal revenue-neutral -- but even that isn't happening. The latest project that I read is that the State will lose $200 million in revenue from the privatization of liquor sales. So, bad news for consumers, very bad news for the State, good news for Idaho liquor stores, and great news for Costco (the corporate overlord that financed the initiatives that eventually wore down the voters into approving this very bad policy idea).
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