By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) — The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board today voted for the first time in 18 months to increase prices on several hundred items.

After holding the line on prices for a year and a half, the PLCB voted to increase prices on 313 items.

See The Full List of Pennsylvania Liquor Price Increases (.pdf format)

A typical state store carries about 4,400 items.

Citing the example of Jacquin’s Distillery, based in Philadelphia, LCB member PJ Stapleton (back to camera in photo) said the board must take into consideration the rising costs that producers face.

“They can’t continue to sell product at the prices that they’re now selling it,” he told the board. “They have not taken a price increase for, what?  Four years now?  And they’re asking for 50 cents a bottle.  And if we don’t allow that to happen, they basically go out of business, so there’s a ripple effect to the things we do here.”

An LCB spokeswoman says the average increase for the 313 items is about a dollar a bottle, depending on the size of the bottle.

RELATED:  Read KYW Newsradio’s Regional Affairs Council special series, “State Store Standoff!,” exploring the current legislative efforts to privatize liquor sales in Pennsylvania.