SEN. COLAPIETRO TAKES ISSUE WITH NEW REPORT ON SUNDAY LIQUOR SALES
HARTFORD— State Sen. Thomas A. Colapietro (D-Bristol), the Senate Chairman of the General Law Committee and a longtime opponent of the Sunday sale of alcohol in Connecticut, wrote today to his General Assembly colleagues and criticized a recent Program Review and Investigations Committee report which concluded in part that Connecticut could anticipate an additional $7-$8 million annually in excise and sales tax revenues from the sale of wine and spirits if Sunday liquor sales were allowed.“Once again the powers that be have convinced the Program Review Committee that Sunday sales will be a so-called boon to Connecticut,” Sen. Colapietro wrote today in part. “Nothing can be farther from the truth.”
“The only real beneficiaries will be those who make the alcohol and others such as the grocery stores who will not hire one single person. All they have to do is pull their curtain down,” Sen. Colapietro said. “On the other hand, the package store is a small business that pays taxes on their buildings, payroll, etc. They would have to heat their store in the winter, cool it in the summer, give up their family day off or pay more to keep someone there.
“There is only one way to gain revenue, and that is to sell more booze. Is that the legislature’s intent? I think not! Do we really want to put small businesses out of business?
“I do listen to my constituents, and not one wants to give up their only day off and give up their customers for convenience. The border towns do not have a legitimate argument,” he concluded.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
32 comments:
Why would colapietro want to shock the voters by voting for something that might help them? It would completely out of character for him to do something for anyone but himself. Get rid of this loser in the next election or you'll continue to get exactly what you deserve - NOTHING.
I agree with Sen. Colapietro on this for the simple reason that I don't care for booze to be sold on Sundays...because it's the Christian day of worship.
But now is he ready to encourage his Democrat colleagues in the Legislature to make more spending cuts?
Tom
I'm with you 100%.
Hang in there!
And I am a Republican.
I have to say, moving back here from Massachusetts and having travelled the country extensively it is borderline annoying to not be able to purchase a bottle of wine on Sunday. Even if there was some sort of compromise permissable of beer and wine in supermarkets it would keep more people out of bars where they are more apt to overindulge.
CT really needs to get with the times!
"Sunday" is a Christian Holiday? Whatever dude. Not everyone is Christian and we can care less.
When I lived in FL they have liqour available 24/7. At bars you can take a bottle/can home with you if you'd like. And at ABC liquor stores they even have a drive-trhu windows. I don't drink, but alcohol is legal and shouldn't be regulated in such a restrictive manner. If you don't like alcohol or don't want it open on Sundays then just don't look or go there. Thats a novel idea huh?
Is Tom Saying the Liquor Store owners are is constituents and not the PEOPLE in the 31st district? Why does he fight so hard for the Liquor store owners and for issues in his OWN district?
Hey Tom, there is a huge budget hole right now and What are you going to do to close it? Any Ideas?
Buy enough on Saturday! PERIOD!
tom, obama wants to take everything away from us already.everyone that voted for him hopefully will change his and her minds next election.we the hard working middle class bust our asses to atleast keep our heads above water. when i want a drink i make a drink in the comfort of my own home. yes i see no problem with sunday liquor sales. if you do not drink that is fine but what gives you the right to ban the rest of us?
Toms next move is to keep barber shops open 24/7 so they could work on that stupid looking hair piece of his.
No wonder these lost soul Republicans can't get elected! They don't know what issues are and they can only attack anonymously personally. Poor lost souls. They are so insignificant. Snipers or like the suicide bombers were.
what bothers me is the motive behind the change. someone thinks the public is going to buy enough liquor to put $7-8 million in the coffers. it seems outlandish to me that simply being open another day would magically make everyone in the state consume that much more alcohol. the occasional lack of foresight to purchase in advance, or occasional whim to have a bottle of whine does not equal that kind of money.
frankly i couldn't care less either way if alcohol was available on sunday or not. the argument that it's a legal substance and shouldnt be as restricted makes more sense than than being a source of revenue for the state.
Tom should be at least as concerned about our state budget as he is about selling liquor. But he's not. Time for him to go.
Um, if your constituents don't want to work on Sunday, they can keep their store closed. What a concept! Store owners have the freedom to keep their stores closed!
Seriously, get a clue Colapietro. You make republicans look stupid.
This should get Colapietro a few more bucks for the re-election campaign. See link below.
http://carpetcity.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/sunday-liquor-contributions/
What they ought to do is make it up to the individual stores whether or not they want to be open on Sundays. That's the way it is when they extended the sale time from 8PM to 9PM. Some liquor stores still close at 8. Others close at 9. Some stay open til 9 only on certain nights.
10:30 There are two holes one in the budget and one in your head !
Are the poor widdo Republocan't crybabies still anonomously crying ??? Boo hoo!
And to all you decent people and their families, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The rest of you jerks (and you know who you are) join Scrooge !
From the Brislin article:
"Documents on file with the State Elections Enforcement Commission illustrate an influential state senator’s ties to the liquor industry. Campaign finance filings show that Senator Thomas Colapietro (D-Bristol), the powerful chairman of the General Law Committee, has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from liquor distributors, retailers, and lobbyists.
Colapietro has extensively benefited from contributions made by liquor retailers associated with the Connecticut Package Store Association (CPSA) and Caroll Hughes, their executive director and lobbyist. Campaign finance records dating back as far as the fourth quarter of 2001 show Colapietro receiving extensive contributions from CPSA officers, liquor stores all over the state, and Hughes. The CPSA is an anti-Sunday liquor sales trade group, representing less then half the package store owners in the state. However, they are among the most vocal up at the Capitol."
Looking out for his constituents???? Or his pocketbook??? And I've voted for him multiple times...
Tom,
Complaining about people posting anonymously, while posting yourself anonymously really doesn't stop the problem.
As to Sunday Liquor store sales, government really shouldn't be legislating hours of operation for a private business. Why does it stop at Liquor stores? Maybe we should close all stores on Sundays because everybody deserves a day of rest. Those people that are open on Sunday have a unfair advantage, they work to hard, seems like a Union Mentality to me.
Why do you fight so hard for Liquor stores and not your actual constituents? You should try and help the Mayor by working to eliminate unfunded mandates, but I forgot we the voters are actually a special interest and liquor stores are your constituents.
Where in the world is Brislin ? We live in Bristol. Grasping at straws again? Or should I say still ? Same ol Republican whiners. Why don't you holier than thou Republicans tell the taxpayers how you cost the State over twenty eight thousand Dollars by dropping out after you phonies talked him into running!
If Colapietro is so bad, how come the Republicans can't get Hamzy, or Krawiecki, or Ken Johnson to run against him?
December 21, 2009 10:19 PM AKA anon-dumb "dude":
Sunday is the Christian sabbath. I'm sorry you are not aware of that. What planet are you from again?
I'm just not too excited about package stores being open on Sunday. I like it that they are not. Evidently so does the special interest group that Colapietro is listening to on this. However, one has to wonder how Senator Press-Operator makes his decisions.
Ho Hum again why am I not suprised that these unseen idiots are against Colapietro. If he was for Sunday sales they would be against. This unseen opposition is really old stuff. When or can't you jerks find something else? Maybe or should I say apparently your lives are too shallow!
6:19 AM:
How about the un-seen hacks and hatchet-people like you?
Grow up.
Wasn't Tom Colapietro that same guy that said keeping the liquor stores open to 9pm was going to drive them out of business? Strange every time I drive by one of those stores that stays open until 9pm there is cars in the parking lot at 8:55. Is Tom for the small business owner?
To 2:07 Nope and stop your stupid insinuations . Yoy partison republican hack!
January 5, 2010 3:16 PM - I love it. But you are wrong.
http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2003/07/30/front%20page/9921406.txt
Here is Toms remarks on allowing the package stores to stay open the extra hour.
5:57 It just goes to show how much you know. Look at the record holier than thou. You must be just plain dumb or are evil and love to lie!
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