This morning's Seattle Times has a front page article about the two Washington state liquor privatization initiatives: Inside the liquor battle: Who'd win, who wouldn't.
According to reporter Melissa Allison, thousands of small players, including wineries, breweries, and liquor store managers, fear for their livelihoods if I-1100 passes in November. Additionally, about 930 state liquor distribution/store workers are expected to lose their jobs if either initiative passes.
The article says that most small businesses do not care if the state is pushed out of the liquor business; their primary concern is with the massive deregulation built into I-1100. I-1105 keeps more of the current regulations in place, but could still negatively impact small grocers.
Read more at the Seattle Times web site: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012960050_liquor22.html
And find more articles, books, and other resources about the impact of privatization of alcohol in ADAI's Resource Brief on Privatization: http://lib.adai.washington.edu/resourcebriefs/privatization.pdf
