Although we all learn about the horrors of Prohibition in school, few seem to realize that many Americans are still living in the shadow of those laws today. While attitudes towards alcohol have warmed since the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, 17 states still maintain monopolies over the distribution of spirits. Worst among these is Pennsylvania, whose Liquor Control Board (PLCB) essentially functions as a cartel. Now is the time to abandon antiquated notions of state control and allow the market to flourish by privatizing Pennsylvania’s liquor industry.

While many states like New York and Texas have been hard at work attempting to aid restaurants and other small businesses by taking such deregulatory measures as allowing the delivery of alcohol, Pennsylvania has decided to go in the opposite direction. Instead of expanding operations of liquor stores, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) -- the three-member panel with total control over Pennsylvania’s state-controlled liquor industry -- has closed all the liquor stores in Pennsylvania.

Just as the coronavirus pandemic is not an excuse for legislatures to pass irresponsible measures in the name of protecting their citizenry, the coronavirus pandemic is also not an excuse for these same legislatures to forego their responsibilities to continue working on unrelated issues. Once the current state of affairs has passed, citizens will return to their daily patterns and elected officials to their posts taking care of issues unrelated to coronavirus.

FreedomWorks is proud to honor Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) as our member of the month for February 2020. Representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States Senate since 2011, Sen. Toomey becomes our first-ever senator to be recognized as member of the month. This is well-deserved, as his principles, intellect, and compassion suit him well to represent his constituents and defend liberty, on everything from healthcare and taxes to trade and spending.

Over 101 years after the ratification of the 18th Amendment that prohibited “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors,” and ushered in the era of Prohibition -- the largest failed experiment in government paternalism in American history -- it might be difficult to see the continued impact that this period has had on our country. One need only not look hard to see that America’s love affair with alcohol is as alive and well today as it was during the time of the bootleggers. Some places like New Orleans are so far removed from Prohibition that open containers on city streets are all but encouraged and a parched traveler can stop for a Drive-Thru Daiquiri and continue on down the highway.

Although it received practically no attention at the time, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 included a small but significant provision tailored towards temporarily relieving the heavy tax burden placed on small American breweries that make up about 95 percent of the marketplace. This seemingly innocuous provision lowered the federal excise tax, cutting small domestic brewers tax burden in half.

On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to support the Clean Slate Act, H.R. 2348. Introduced by Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), the Clean Slate Act would create an automatic sealing process for certain federal criminal records, including simple arrests without conviction, and a streamlined petition process for sealing other criminal records to promote successful reentry into society. The bill does not apply to sex offenders or violent offenders.