HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett's drive to sell off Pennsylvania's state-controlled liquor system could face tough odds in the Senate, where the chamber's top lawmaker said Thursday he was not ready to take that step.

In addition, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, prodded Corbett to announce what kind of fees or taxes, if any, he will support to pay for the state's crumbling highways and damage caused by Pennsylvania's booming natural gas industry, and suggested that Corbett's commissions simply delayed progress on answering those questions.

Scarnati, a Republican like Corbett, made the comments in a news conference with reporters in his office during the summer weeks when the Legislature isn't in session, committee meetings are scarce and policy debates have slowed to a crawl.

But his comments gave a preview of the debates that can be expected the rest of the year on the major agenda items in Republican-controlled Harrisburg, and foreshadowed policy disagreements among the governor's office, the House and the Senate. It wasn't clear Thursday to what extent Scarnati's point of view reflected that of other Republican senators.

"Before you sell a business, you get the best bottom line you can, and I'm not so sure that we in Pennsylvania have yet got the best bottom line out of our liquor system that we can," Scarnati said. "The liquor system is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it, and they're going to pay for it based upon how much they can make."

Scarnati, a former restaurant owner, said the agency that runs the system of more than 600 liquor stores and its wholesale distribution network still has "handcuffs" on it — such as pricing controls — that, if lifted, could boost sales at the stores.