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HARRISBURG &#8212; Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to loosen Pennsylvania&#8217;s tightly controlled liquor system by letting groceries and other outlets sell takeout wine and by formalizing beer sales in convenience stores that have begun as a result of court cases.The House voted 157-31 to send the proposal to the desk of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf after a debate in which members said the changes carried considerable public support.&#8220;What we&#8217;re trying to do today is exactly what my constituents would like to see take place,&#8221; said Rep. Lee James, R-Venango.The bill that passed the Senate in December &#8212; with most Democrats opposed &#8212; would let some 14,000 holders of takeout beer licenses sell up to four bottles of wine to a customer. It would allow takeout wine sales in licensed restaurants, bars, hotels, supermarkets and delis.Wolf issued a statement calling the measure &#8220;historic liquor modernization legislation that provides greater customer convenience&#8221; and promising to review the bill &#8220;to ensure it meets my goals of enhancing the customer experience, increasing much-needed revenue to help balance our budget and bringing our wine and spirits system into the 21st century.&#8221;The bill, backed Tuesday by 46 Democrats, drew strong objections from the head of the union that represents state liquor store clerks.&#8220;We&#8217;re opposed to it and think it&#8217;s crazy that we would do this,&#8221; said Wendell Young IV, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776. &#8220;Of course we&#8217;re used to crazies in the Republican Party, but we&#8217;re not used to Democrats joining the crazies. There must be some sort of virus in the building.&#8221;It will not affect sales of hard liquor or result in closure of Pennsylvania&#8217;s roughly 600 state-owned stores, but Young warned it will undermine the finances of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said he saw the bill as a step toward liquor privatization and noted it will produce about $150 million in new revenue for the cash-strapped state government.&#8220;We think this puts wine into the private sector like consumers have been looking for for years,&#8221; Reed told reporters. &#8220;There are certainly other components to it that will help modernize the system, but overall we view this as the first step to fully privatizing our liquor system in Pennsylvania.&#8221;Rep. Gene DiGirolamo of Bucks County, one of just three Republicans to vote against the bill Tuesday, said alcohol abuse represented a major problem.&#8220;We are going from 620 state stores that sell alcohol across the state of Pennsylvania to potentially 15-20,000 outlets that will now be allowed to sell alcohol,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Is this what we need for our state of Pennsylvania? I don&#8217;t think so.&#8221;Supporters have said supermarkets and big-box retail stores would likely purchase takeout licenses from current holders or the state. The proposal also would give state-owned stores more latitude about setting hours and which products they stock.Another provision would let casinos serve alcohol around-the-clock instead of just for 19 hours in a day under current law. Wineries would be allowed to send products directly to Pennsylvania customers.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Mark ScolforoAssociated Press</bylineMeta></div>

Lawmakers vote to allow wine sales in groceries