Sheetz, State Senator Pushing For Beer Sales In Pa. Convenience Stores

Nearly 200 people packed the steps of the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg Tuesday morning for a rally demanding reform of Pennsylvania beer sale laws.

A group of Sheetz employees packed two charter buses in Altoona early Tuesday to take part in the rally, joining members of the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association and the Pennsylvania Convenience Store Council.

Current law restricts beer from being sold inside most convenience and grocery stores in Pennsylvania.

Sheetz Inc. CEO Stan Sheetz said he and other store operators are fed up with the restrictions.

"None of the other states where we operate have mind boggling alcohol laws like we have here in the Commonwealth," said Sheetz. "It's a spider web, it's a mess. Our beer laws are backwards and they're counter-intuitive, inefficient and hypocritical."

At Tuesday's rally inside the rotunda, State Sen. John Rafferty, R - 44th District, proposed new legislation in an effort to update what he called "unsafe, antiquated" state beer sale laws.

"If we do this, we'll have six packs available at beer distributors, six packs available at grocery stores and convenience stores," said Rafferty. "You don't have to go in somewhere, sit down at the bar, drink and then buy a six pack."

Rafferty's proposed legislation also includes a 100 percent identification carding policy for beer purchases across Pennsylvania.

"This is not a fight against anyone, it is a fight for the rights of our customers," said Sheetz Vice President Mike Cortez. "For the rights that those customers have been asking for and sought for 60 years."

The proposed "beer revolution" legislation would not result in a spike of license applications; under the bill, larger chains and stores can purchase existing licenses and convert it into a food merchant license.

Concluding the announcement, Sheetz officials provided a wagon to Rafferty, filled with binders containing more than 125,000 signatures from Sheetz customers supporting beer sales in convenience stores.

A Sheetz convenience store was approved for a beer sale license in 2009, which was quickly halted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

"I think the Altoona convenience store really pushed the issue off center and started us, gaining a little momentum for us," said Sheetz Chairman Steve Sheetz.

Rafferty's proposal was released for circulation Tuesday in search of co-sponsorship.