The lease on the The Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) facility in Montgomery is due to end in 2025 and the board is looking for a new bigger facility. The ABC Board had accepted proposals for a new warehouse, but has recently decided to not more forward with any of them, for now.
I have a better solution to the problem of ABC needing a new warehouse: Close all the ABC stores and get the state government out of the alcohol retail business. Then, there will be no need for a new facility. Problem solved.
Alabama is one of only 17 states that has a government monopoly over alcohol sales. I could understand why a Democrat-controlled state would want a monopoly of this kind, but the Yellowhammer State is a solidly-conservative state. Can someone explain how having government run liquor stores aligns with the state’s conservative priorities?
Imagine if Governor Ivey announced tomorrow that Alabama would start opening new government-run grocery stores, and that the state would now have monopoly control over all groceries sold in the state. Outrageous, right?
Republican lawmakers would claim that this is a dangerous step toward socialism in what’s supposed to be a free market state. And yet the state is basically already running a socialist liquor enterprise.
I understand that getting Alabama out of the alcohol retail business is easier said than done.
The fact is many politicians on both sides of the aisle feel that ABC stores make the state too much money. Those who believe that don’t understand basic economics. While it is true that the stores generate revenue, they also hurt possible economic growth from private retailers who would no longer be held back by the government monopoly.
I also understand that even many Republicans have a hard time giving up government control in any circumstance. Well, having more control over the economy is not the job of the Legislature. Those in the GOP should already know that.
The only benefit I see from the existence of the ABC stores is the example its sets, revealing to the world why the private sector is much better at running stores and selling products than the government. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that the government stores are not nearly as nice as the private sector ones.
The good news is there are plans circulating that would gradually privatize the alcohol retail business in the state. State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) says he has a plan to phase it out. Let’s hope the Republican Party leaders prove how conservative they claim to be by supporting a bill like that.
It’s time for leaders in Alabama — who often claim to be free market, limited government conservatives — to prove it to the people of the state. It’s time to end one of the biggest and most unnecessary government monopolies still in existence.
It’s time to privatize alcohol sales in Alabama.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
