For some reason (El Somnambulo suspects just the Usual Poor Editorial Judgement), the News-Journal decided to make today’s lead story the introduction of legislation to permit beer and wine sales in Delaware supermarkets.
The Beast Who Slumbers couldn’t care less whether the bill passes or not. It is clearly an attempt by the large grocery chains to take advantage of Delaware’s precarious financial position:
The bill has the potential to raise $10 million in its first year through the new class of alcohol license it would create — a license with a one-time fee of $100,000 per store. There would be a biennial renewal fee of $5,000.
“It’s projected to raise $10 million without pay cuts, furloughs or layoffs. It’s going to raise money,” Viola said.
In other words, in keeping with the Delaware Way, it’s a one-time-only $10 million gimmick. “Money for Nuthin'”, which might as well have been the State’s motto over the past 30 years. An economy built on usurous credit card rates, ‘incorporation fees’ in a ‘business-friendly’ state, legalized gambling, and the like. All while the manufacturing sector was hemorrhaging jobs and businesses.
What is clear, regardless of whether this bill passes or not, is that it is not consumer-driven.
John Viola, one of Delaware’s least distinguished legislators, (Warning: Shameless Plug Alert. It is indeed possible that Viola will be featured in El Somnambulo’s upcoming series on “Not Just More Democrats, But Better Democrats”, scheduled to debut next week) hails from New Castle. The ratio of package stores to grocery stores in New Castle is, what, something like 15-1? How many grocery stores in the state are ‘stand-alone’, and do not have a package store either in the same shopping center, or within a mile of the grocery store?
In other words, this is really a solution in search of a problem, one that the large retail grocers are pushing to enable them to sell alcohol. And that’s fine as long as people call it what it is.
However, the Beast Who Slumbers has detected at least one problem that this legislation might help solve. With the economy sagging, contributions to legislators are likely sagging as well. What better way to jump-start campaign contributions than by introducing legislation pitting two powerful lobbies, the grocery chains and the package store owners, against each other?
‘Bulo predicts that this bill will not even be voted on this session, and that the most successful legislators will be those who avoid taking a stand while accepting contributions from lobbyists on both sides. Call it a win-win.