PHILADELPHIA — Democratic state lawmakers resisted a push to privatize wine and liquor sales in Pennsylvania on Thursday, throwing their support behind union officials and others who contend the public monopoly ensures good jobs and responsible alcohol sales.

The field hearing at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia included seven witnesses, only one of whom supported the Republican-backed privatization concept as a way to help close a projected multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.

Members of the House Democratic Policy Committee were unmoved by the arguments of Nate Benefield, director of policy research for the Commonwealth Foundation, who said that selling the state liquor stores will give consumers better choices, more convenience and lower prices.

Potential revenue from private licenses could range from $1.2 billion to $2.5 billion, he said, but noted those estimates were rough because no one knows how many licenses would be available.

“We will never know the true value of privatization until taking up competitive bids for licenses,” Benefield said.

But about a dozen lawmakers who spoke at the hearing maintained that privatization will hurt the state financially in the long run, create more social ills — or both.

Legislators from urban areas in particular worried about a potential proliferation of nuisance liquor stores with a profit incentive to sell to minors.

Pennsylvania’s system for alcohol sales is a product of post-Prohibition laws. Bottles of liquor and wine are sold in about 620 state-owned stores staffed by public employees; beer is sold separately by private wholesalers and retailers.