Plan to end Virginia's liquor monopoly backed

RICHMOND, Va. — A government reform commission has endorsed Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposal to end the state's 76-year-old liquor monopoly.

With only three dissenting votes, more than 20 members of the Government Reform and Restructuring Commission backed the plan on Monday. The proposal is a framework of a privatization plan that will be considered by the General Assembly.

Under McDonnell's plan, the state would realize nearly $500 million from selling Virginia's state-owned liquor stores.

The McDonnell administration acknowledged that annual receipts from taxes on private-sector liquor sales will be at least $47 million short of the $260 million in tax receipts and sales profits that ABC stores are projected to generate.