The Empire Page

Last year, the New York State Legislature rejected Governor Paterson’s attempt to legalize the sale of wine in 19,000 new outlets – and it’s a good thing we did. The recently released report from the New York State Law Commission on the State Liquor Authority makes plain that we made the right decision in rejecting a costly, and dangerous idea.

Consider this: The State Liquor Authority has just 38 enforcement officers policing 70,000 license holders and, in the words of the Commission, “is unable to make prevention of underage drinking a statewide priority.”

The Commission found that New York State spends $3.2 billion annually dealing with the cost of underage drinking – a steep price that would only increase by making wine more readily available in every corner store, bodega, deli, minimart and grocery store in the state that sells beer.

That staggering price tag includes the cost of accidents, violence, treatment and other situations that teenagers find themselves in due to underage drinking. Rather than adding to that burden, we should be working to reduce underage drinking, and driving while intoxicated regardless of age.

In fact, New York doesn’t look so bad when compared with other states. In all, 37 states spend more to deal with underage drinking – on a per teen basis – than New York does. But making it easier to get wine – which has twice the alcohol content as beer – would only increase our costs. We should be looking to improve our record, not move up this dubious list.

We know that legalizing the sale of wine so Big Box stores can make more profits will kill about 1,000 small businesses and put more than 4,000 people out of work. We also know that the Big Box stores will not create one more job to stack a different product on a shelf. That’s reason enough to reject this bad idea.

In addition, letting supermarkets sell wine amounts to a fiscal gimmick, generating one-shot revenues through the sale of licenses without any significant long-term revenue. It’s little more than a finger in a dike that has gaping holes. That’s also reason enough to reject this bad idea.

But the Commission report makes clear that the SLA is ill equipped to do its job now, never mind dramatically adding to its burden by putting even more alcohol within easy reach of teenagers. The report also makes plain that New York already pays a high enough price for underage drinking.

Law Enforcement officials from around the State, along with advocates like Parents Who Host Lose the Most and Students Against Dangerous Decisions, worked hard to make that case last year. It was a powerful argument that moved many legislators  to reject the Governor’s plan.

There is no question that New York State faces serious budget issues. But we must focus on real solutions as opposed to gimmicks that carry long-term consequences for the people of New York State. The Commission report makes clear that legalizing the sale of wine in 19,000 new outlets is not just a costly idea, but a dangerous one as well.

Governor Paterson would do well not to repeat the mistake of proposing this reckless idea again in his 2010-11 Executive Budget. But if he does, I am confident the New York State Legislature will make the right decision again and reject it.