Jun. 3--EDITORIAL: State's effort to shield small businesses who own liquor licenses not sober. Page 4-A. IN THE WEEK AHEAD, we will take a closer look at two education bills passed by the Legislature on Tuesday.

The most debated bill on the House floor passed the state Legislature on Tuesday.

The bill made it possible for owners of stand-alone liquor stores to buy their licenses for another 10 years without bidding on them.

The Legislature passed 13 bills put on the call by Gov. Joe Manchin, and adjourned late Tuesday afternoon. Along the way, the House of Delegates also subjected two other bills to hearty debate before passing them -- not unanimously.

The next interim session is scheduled for June 15-17.

Liquor licenses

House Bill 105 defines two types of retail liquor licenses: Class A, standalone stores, such as Ashebrooke Liquor Outlet on Beechurst Avenue; and Class B, mixed-use outlets, where other goods are sold under the same roof, such as in the Cheat Lake BFS.

The law permits holders of Class A licenses to buy their license, without bidding, for the next 10-year cycle, which begins July 1, 2010. They must pay a "minimum bid" price determined by the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration, plus a 10-percent premium. They may elect to pay 50 percent down and have the remainder financed by the state at 1 percent below prime rate.

Delegates who opposed the bill in Judiciary Committee opposed it again on the House floor.

Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer renewed her concerns about the discount financing, and the state essentially granting a limited monopoly by selling the license.

"Lots of businesses in my district would like not to have to compete with other businesses," she said. They would welcome a "10-year break from competition."

She also said that Class B license holders, and those in Class A who choose to bid, have to pay the whole bid prices -- sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars, up front, while Class A buyers can "dribble" the funds in over five years. This deprives the state of money it could be spending on needs, she said, citing The Dominion Post's "pothole of the week" feature, and statistics showing three southern West Virginia counties fall in the nation's bottom 1 percent for life expectancy.

"Keeping the status quo will result in greater revenues for the state," she said.

Delegate William R. Wooten, DRaleigh, said there are about 165 liquor licenses held in the state -- 100 Class B and 65 Class A. He repeated his concerns that granting license holders the right to buy their license every 10 years creates a property right, and could subject the state to lawsuits. Bill proponents concurred those suits are a possibility.