(Harrisburg) -- A state House panel is hearing more testimony on a bill that would sell off the Commonwealth’s liquor stores and more than double the number of wine and liquor retailers. First at bat in the discussion on liquor store privatization: head of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Joe Conti. He greeted the House Liquor Control Committee with pages of spreadsheets and charts addressing one of the biggest buzzphrases used by privatization backers: the state stores’ high pricing.

Conti says inflexible pricing is due to state law keeping the LCB from offering discounts on products the way other businesses can. "We want to work on that. With your help, we can do that," he says. "We can’t do it easily with the current proportional pricing section in the liquor code." Conti says the Board wants to see the General Assembly pass an amendment that removes that handcuff of pricing regulation. He says studies commissioned by the LCB also show that turning liquor and wine over to the private sector could result in even higher prices because of the per-gallon tax proposed.