HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania liquor control officials told lawmakers Tuesday that they could support more changes to modernize the state-owned system of about 620 retail liquor stores in Pennsylvania, including increasing the availability of alcohol on Sundays and allowing direct shipments of wine or liquor to homes.

Liquor Control Board officials appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee, as the agency tries to fend off a movement by Republicans to privatize liquor and wine sales in Pennsylvania.

The changes, which committee members brought up during the hearing, would require legislative approval, as would several changes that liquor control officials said would make their agency more efficient and profitable for the state.

Changes raised by lawmakers include extending Sunday store closing times by two or three hours past the current 5 p.m. limit, and allowing more than the current limit of 25 percent of stores to open on Sunday. Another change would allow customers to ship wine or liquor from outside of Pennsylvania directly to their home, instead of requiring them to pick it up at a state store.

Liquor Control Board Chairman Patrick Stapleton said he could support direct shipments, as long as precautions were taken to ensure underage youths weren’t buying liquor. The agency’s executive director, Joe Conti, said officials also must decide how much tax to charge for online purchases.

Liquor control officials, in testimony submitted to the committee, said it might be able to produce an additional $20 million by being allowed some flexibility in charging the 30 percent markup on all products that is required by law. Flexibility, they said, would allow the agency to function more like a private retailer, with the ability to increase profitability on certain items, and offer better deals on others.

They also said they would like to be given the freedom to hire outside the civil service system and acquire goods and services outside of state procurement rules.

During the fall campaign, Gov. Tom Corbett said he favored privatizing the state stores as a way to raise a sizable nest egg for the state, such as a transportation trust fund to help offset a shortfall in funding for highways, bridges and mass transit.

However, there are a number of different ways to privatize the state liquor store system, and lawmakers have no up-to-date and independent analysis about what any plan would mean financially to the state.