Pennsylvania Lawmakers Aim To Grant Amnesty To Bars That Violated COVID Lockdown Orders
Some bars and restaurants that got in trouble for breaking the state government’s COVID-19 closure orders are still being hounded by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB).
Now, some state lawmakers have a message for the liquor regulators: “Back off!”
Bills introduced recently in the state House and state Senate would extend amnesty to bars, restaurants, and other venues with liquor licenses that may have racked up COVID-era violations. Specifically, the bills would prohibit the PLCB from revoking or suspending any liquor license due to a failure to comply with COVID-19 orders from the state’s governor and Department of Health, and they would force the PLCB to remove any disciplinary actions already taken against licensees.
The collection of bills is a response to the PLCB’s practice of imposing “conditional licensing agreements” on establishments that ran afoul of Pennsylvania’s strict lockdown rules during the pandemic.
As Reason has previously reported, some of those violations were for ticky-tack offenses. One York County tavern was written up multiple times by PLCB agents for things as innocuous as allowing a band to use the bar’s power supply for an outdoor concert, and for a private indoor gathering at a time when bars were required to be closed to the public. When that tavern’s owners tried to renew their license with the PLCB last year, they were forced to sign a conditional licensing agreement that has resulted in higher insurance premiums and that comes with the risk of losing their license if another violation occurs.
“The Liquor Control Board has the opportunity to move on from the unilateral and subjective rules in place during the pandemic that destroyed lives and livelihoods, especially our locally owned businesses, but they appear fixated on relitigating the past which will continue to make these small businesses suffer even more,” state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R–York), a co-sponsor of one of the bills, told Reason. Senate President Kim Ward (R–Westmoreland) has signed on to support Phillips-Hill’s proposal, a signal that it could move quickly through the Republican-controlled chamber.
Prior to the pandemic, the PLCB used conditional licensing agreements to crack down on nuisance bars or establishments with a track record of selling to underage customers. Since January 2022, howev
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