Legislature begins review of N.C. liquor system

RALEIGH, N.C. 

A legislative committee examining whether changes should be made to how North Carolina sells liquor will hold its first meeting by reviewing an earlier study by General Assembly researchers.

The Joint Study Committee on Alcoholic Beverage Control begins today. It is charged with presenting recommendations to the full Legislature when it reconvenes in May. The 28-member panel was to hear about a 2008 report suggesting the state ABC Commission needs more oversight over local stores.

Gov. Beverly Perdue and others also are interested in whether it makes sense to privatize the current monopoly system. The system has received scrutiny after reports of a liquor company paying for a fancy dinner for local ABC leaders and a local administrator getting paid more than $250,000 a year.