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Pa. House Leader Says Senate Liquor Bill Falls Short

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - The majority leader in the state House is planning a liquor reform proposal unveiled earlier this week in the state Senate.

House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, an Allegheny County Republican, is the chief proponent of liquor privatization in the legislature and he got a bill through the House in March. Earlier this week, Senate Republican leaders took the wraps off their version of a liquor bill, one that provides no formula for shutting down state stores and selling off the state's wholesale liquor operations.

Turzai says the Senate proposal falls short, "It doesn't go far enough. You know, the members voted to get out of the business of the sale of wine and spirits – we need some real divestiture language in terms of retail and wholesale."

But Turzai declined to say whether he would run the Senate bill in the House if it comes out of the Senate as currently proposed, a measure that Senate Republican leaders admitted earlier this week did not yet have enough votes for passage.

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