He is the top government official in the Keystone State, but when Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) tried to buy a an alcoholic drink at a convenience store, he was denied.
The reason? He did not have proper identification, according to The Hill.
Shapiro, 51, was at a Rutter’s convenience store in Central Pennsylvania when he tried to purchase Philadelphia-based Surfside tea and vodka.
The governor didn’t have his ID, so he didn’t get his drink.
The denial stems from a new Pennsylvania law pertaining to access to canned cocktails.
Videos and photos memorialized what happened and show Shapiro leaving empty handed.
The governor’s office said he returned his intended purchase to the shelf after he was carded. No one else bought the alcohol for the former attorney general of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania has one of the strictest laws regarding alcohol sales.
At one time, convenience stores and grocery stores were not allowed to sell ready-to-drink beverages under a law from the Prohibition era that required hard liquor be sold from state-run stores.
Local stores could only sell beer and wine.
The new law allows the sale of 16-ounce drinks; stores must apply for new permits before they are allowed to sell them.
Shapiro is also interested in legalizing weed in the state.
“There are Pennsylvanians who may be traveling out of state to purchase cannabis, and that’s, I think, something that we want to be focused on doing here in our commonwealth,” he said.
Earlier this year, Shapiro signed the bipartisan liquor law that expanded the sale of canned drinks up to 12.5 percent ABV. This includes restaurants, hotels and other outlets that may now sell beverages to be consumed off site.
“This is what real freedom looks like, and we did it in a way that protects taxpayers and supports our state workers,” Shapiro said in August.
