Politics on the Hudson

The state’s economy is being hurt by the foot-dragging of the state Liquor Authority, the chairman of the Senate Investigations Committee charged today.

Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, said restaurant and bar owners in his district have told him in the past year that there are often long delays in trying to get a license.

“It’s my belief that  the ability of the state Liquor Authority to initiate and implement an expedited liquor-licensing process could help jump-start local economic activity that can be helpful during this time of economic and fiscal crisis,’’ Winner said in a letter to authority chairman Daniel Boyle.

Winner asked Boyle to tell him how many licenses are pending, how long it will take to process them and whether the authority could handle them more quickly.

There was no immediate response from the Liquor Authority.