Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Politics This Will Make You Want to Drink Before Noon
Posted by Liz Garrigan on Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 11:18 AM
The grocers this morning made their thoroughly reasonable case for selling wine in grocery stores during the state Senate's State and Local Government Committee, whose proceedings are being video streamed.
Now, the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association is making its bid. The president of this trade group just characterized the issue as "complex," though it is not—not by a long shot.
"There will be a net loss of employment if this bill passes," he just said, which assumes that retail outlets who would be allowed to sell wine would not hire additional employees and that current package stores would suddenly lay off employees because more outlets could sell wine.
Right. Thirty-three other states don't seem to think so. This is a new argument, by the way, coming from a group that's spent the last several weeks feigning concern about underage drinking.
UPDATE: The bill's been "rolled," and the sponsor, Bill Ketron, plans a House-Senate summer study committee.
