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Washington among states weighing sale of liquor business

"To me this isn’t a core function of government. It’s a retail operation. Private companies can do it as good or better."

Thousands of cases of whiskey, vodka and rum zip along three miles of conveyor belts inside a massive distribution center in industrial south Seattle, the sole location for shipping booze to liquor stores across Washington state.

The 250,000-square-foot warehouse is the nexus from which all of the state’s liquor is imported, processed, and moved out to the 315 state and contract stores, the only place where Washingtonians can buy hard liquor for home consumption.

As states scramble to deal with gaping budget deficits, many are looking for any opportunity to increase revenue, and Washington is one of a handful of states weighing whether privatizing liquor sales is the way to get back into the black.

Some lawmakers here want to sell the distribution center – bringing the state a one-time boost of about $33 million – and let the private sector step in to sell liquor, which some say will reap long-term cost benefits.

By RACHEL LA CORTE; Associated Press Writer

Full Story: http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/1059111.html

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