Last year the governor took on Sunday liquor store sales. This year he's set his sights on lowering the price of alcohol at those stores.
Among the legislation Gov. Dannel P. Malloy submitted this week is a proposal to eliminate the state's alcohol pricing laws for Connecticut liquor stores, which set minimum prices that increase the retail costs of that bottle of wine or cognac by as much as $9 in some cases, the Journal Inquirer reports.
The state's law banning package store owners from setting prices below those established by their wholesalers is intended to protect smaller stores from the bulk-buying capabilities of large retailers. But the law also hurts consumers and the state because Connecticut residents either buy less alcohol or they go to the border states of New York, Rhode Island or Massachusetts, where booze prices are lower, the newspaper reports.
Getting rid of minimum pricing standards could bring another $1.5 million annually in sales tax revenues into state coffers because of increased sales in Connecticut, the JI reports. Smaller retailers, however, are likely to oppose the change because of concerns that large retailers could set prices too low for them to compete.