Jan 30, 2013 1 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett says his plan to auction 1,200 wine and liquor store licenses and open beer and wine sales to a broad array of retailers would commit the proceeds to education.

Information distributed by Corbett’s office Wednesday said the Republican governor expects the plan would generate an additional $1 billion in revenue to the state over several years.

Corbett’s office says most of the revenue would come from auctioning wholesale liquor licenses. Auctioning and selling retail licenses to sell wine, liquor or beer would generate the remainder.

The plan involves shutting down the more than 600 state-owned wine and liquor stores as a prelude to auctioning private retail licenses.

Corbett says the money would be used to create a Passport for Learning block grant to distribute to public schools.