CHESTER—
Over three hundred people turned out Thursday night for a town hall meeting in Chester with Governor Bob McDonnell.The Governor has already held two meetings in Norfolk and Roanoke to get continents' opinions on government spending and reform, education, energy, and unemployment. However, most of Thursday night's discussion focused on privatizing ABC stores in Virginia.
Virginia is one of 18 states that still holds a monopoly on liquor sales at its 334 stores in Virginia. The Governor says it's not the government's responsibility to be in the business of selling liquor. McDonnell says both Governors Kaine and Warner held similar views. The administration says privatizing ABC stores could generate 800 to 1,000 new venues to purchase spirits.
McDonnell says privatizing Virginia's ABC stores would also generate millions of dollars for transportation, without causing the state to raise taxes. "You take the profits from the sales of licenses, 800 that might be auctioned off, and you put that money, estimated to be three, four, five hundred million dollars or more, toward transportation," argued McDonnell.
Most people who spoke at Thursday's meeting were supportive of the measure, but there have been concerns over the potential for increased crime and not enough enforcement to monitor the 800 to 1,000 stores selling hard liquor. The Governor says enforcement would be increased. He also argued that statistics prove there's been no increase in crime in states that have already privatized liquor sales.
