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    LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD

    Stop-and-Go Legislative Taskforce

    The Stop-and-Go Legislative Task Force was created by Act 49 of 2023 to research the laws and issues surrounding stop-and-gos and make recommendations for effectively regulating them. 

    Stop-and-Go Legislative Task Force Recommendations

    Stop-and-gos are generally understood to be businesses with restaurant or eating place retail liquor licenses that operate as convenience stores or delis but fail to maintain minimum requirements for licensure. 

    Existing statutory and regulatory frameworks have proven unsuccessful in bringing such establishments into license compliance because of limited enforcement authority, insufficient fines and penalties, insufficient staffing among the Pennsylvania State Police BLCE, and delays in enforcement due to the two-year license renewal process and lengthy hearing and appeals process.

    Between April and September 2024, the Stop-and-Go Taskforce and its supporting work group engaged in extensive work to research these establishments and develop their recommendations, including review and analysis of state laws, hosting public hearings, touring stop-and-go establishments and reviewing expert testimony.

    Stop-and-Go Legislative Task Force recommendations according to the report include:

    1.  Streamline the citation process;
    2.  Strengthen the Licensing Compliance Program;
    3. Inform the process for license renewal with other citations and information;
    4. Increase penalties and fines for all citations;
    5. Remove de novo review from Common Pleas Court;
    6.  Highlight the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Complaint Process;
    7. Increase recruitment efforts for Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE) agents; and
    8. Require the payment of city taxes and fully adjudicated city fines before a liquor license may be received or renewed.