Name: Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf’s proposal to waive liquor license fees to help bars, restaurants gets tepid reaction: ‘A drop in the bucket’
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Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf’s proposal to waive liquor license fees to help bars, restaurants gets tepid reaction: ‘A drop in the bucket’

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AdvertisementBy The Morning CallOct 22, 2020 at 2:10 pmHARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday said he is working with the state Liquor Control Board to waive liquor license fees to help restaurants, bars, clubs and hotels — businesses that have been battered financially during the coronavirus pandemic.Wolf, speaking at a news conference, said the need to mitigate coronavirus spread caused “really severe” financial harm to the businesses. He wants the PLCB to approve a waiver of the standard liquor licensing fees for bars, restaurants, clubs and hotels through 2021, starting Jan. 1.AdvertisementExactly which fees might be included was not clear, but several Lehigh Valley bar and restaurant operators put the potential annual relief at roughly $1,500-$2,000.Reaction in the Lehigh Valley was lukewarm, at best.Advertisement"A drop in the bucket” is how Allentown attorney Ted Zeller, a liquor law specialist, described the proposal.It revived the still-fresh memory of designed to loosen virus restrictions on bars and restaurants ― and a that veto.Zeller said small businesses would have preferred the proposed relief in that bill to the fee-waiver proposal.“This will do nothing to soothe their frustration with the regulations that they’re facing,” said Zeller, who added that many of his clients continue to adapt to survive the pandemic. He mentioned that one of his restaurant clients recently bought a snow-proof tent, hoping to keep outdoor dining going through the winter.Wolf, a Democrat, said the fee-waiver initiative could save 16,000 businesses a combined $20 million, and he expected the PLCB would approve it.PLCB spokesman Shawn Kelly said the board is evaluating Wolf’s proposal to determine if it has the legal authority to waive various fees, and expects to address the issue at its meeting Wednesday.Domenico Lombardo, owner of the Mint restaurant in Bethlehem, said he pays about $1,600 each year to renew his liquor license. He called it “nominal” in the world of restaurant operating costs, and said he was disappointed by the Wolf proposal.Steve DiDonato, who owned restaurants in the Lehigh Valley for 20 years and now works for a wine importer, said he spoke to a friend whose restaurant has lost “$2,000 a day” since a July 15 coronavirus mitigation order was issued.Advertisement“It is not going to help them at all,” DiDonato said of the proposed fee waiver. “It’s a gesture.”Whether the state would do this has been on many bar and restaurant owners' minds, said Mo Taylor, co-founder of the Bayou Boys Hospitality Group, which owns the Bayou restaurants in Easton and Bethlehem as well as Whiz Kids in Allentown.He said that while the liquor license renewal fees are not excessive ― he said they range from about $1,000-$5,000 ― “every little bit is going to help right now.”The financial hit from the pandemic meant the Bayou Boys decided not to open a fourth restaurant, in Allentown.For Jay Cimerol, owner of the Catty Corner Neighborhood Pub and Pie in Catasauqua, it’s too little, too late.He estimates he pays about $1,000 in liquor license fees in a year, though he’s not sure the exact amount.Advertisement“It’s not significant enough that’s going to make a dent in the business we lost by not having people to sit at our bar and patronize our dining room,” he said.Cimerol said he is selling about a third of normal liquor volume, and the business is surviving on takeout and delivery.“Open my place back up, that’s what’s going to help me,” he said.Bert Charlie, owner of Riley’s Pub in Whitehall Township, equated having his $1,500 liquor license fee waived to a stimulus check.“It is going to help, but I would rather that we be able to serve alcohol after 11 and pay for the license,” Charlie said. “But hey, everything helps right now.”In a written statement, the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association said Wolf’s proposal on waiving fees did not go far enough.Advertisement“Much more needs to be done, particularly considering the size of the industry and its role in the Pennsylvania economy,” the statement said. Wolf and others who spoke at Thursday’s news conference urged the Republican-led Legislature to act soon to direct federal coronavirus relief money to the hospitality industry.The state has more than $1 billion in emergency federal funds it has not yet spent.Wolf said he asked the Legislature two months ago to cancel or reduce alcohol taxes, to allow the hospitality industry to buy alcohol at lower rates, to put $225 million of the federal money toward a small business assistance program and to put $100 million toward forgivable loans and grants for the industry.“All those things would be a help,” Wolf said. “Those specific requests have obviously not yet been taken up by the Republican-led General Assembly.”House Republican Caucus spokesman Jason Gottesman called Wolf’s announcement “a half measure of help that does not even take effect until next year.”AdvertisementGottesman said in a statement the state’s hospitality industry “is on the verge of collapse” because of overly broad virus mitigation measures implemented by Wolf.“Democrats had a chance to join Republicans in providing real assistance to this struggling industry and its workers by overriding the governor’s veto,” Gottesman said.A spokesman for House Democrats, Bill Patton, said the state’s handling of bars and restaurants “is guided by both science and common sense. Almost every other state has similar rules in place.”The best way for Republicans to help, Patton said, would be to take action that would earmark some of the unspent federal money to help bars and restaurants.On Tuesday, the House narrowly failed to override Wolf’s veto of the virus restriction-loosening bill, which had passed the General Assembly with strong bipartisan support.A total of 133 representatives voted in favor of the override, but the attempt needed 135 votes to succeed.AdvertisementAmong other things, the bill would have ended the prohibition on serving people at bars, rather than tables, and it would have ended the requirement that people buy food in order to be served alcohol.Morning Call reporters Jon Harris and Kayla Dwyer contributed to this report.Morning Call Capitol correspondent Ford Turner can be reached at Advertisement

AdvertisementBy The Morning CallOct 22, 2020 at 2:10 pmHARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday said he is working with the state Liquor Control Board to waive liquor license fees to help restaurants, bars, clubs and hotels — businesses that have been battered financially during the coronavirus pandemic.Wolf, speaking at a news conference, said the need to mitigate coronavirus spread caused “really severe” financial harm to the businesses. He wants the PLCB to approve a waiver of the standard liquor licensing fees for bars, restaurants, clubs and hotels through 2021, starting Jan....

Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf’s proposal to waive liquor license fees to help bars, restaurants gets tepid reaction: ‘A drop in the bucket’

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