In what could be a historic vote, Pennsylvania is closer than ever to a privatized liquor system.

Members of the House of Representatives Thursday are poised to vote on House Bill 790, designed to drastically alter the way booze is sold in the state.

It will mark the first time in Pennsylvania a bill specifically focused on liquor privatization will be voted on in either chamber.

“We believe tomorrow the members of the House will vote with their constituents to privatize wine and spirit sales in Pennsylvania. Tomorrow is going to be history,” said House Republican spokesman Stephen Miskin.

There is little doubt the bill will have enough votes to pass, legislative sources said. It is believed that the Republicans will garner more than the 102 votes needed to pass without any Democratic support.

“The Democratic caucus is solid against the bill. We are not aware of any of our members that would give a 'yes' vote,” said Bill Patton, House Democratic spokesman.

In addition, the bill would allow for wine sales in supermarkets. The current Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board-operated stores would be phased out as licenses are purchased by the private sector.

Gov. Tom Corbett has come out in full support of legislation to scrap the state's more than 600 wine and spirit stores in place of a privately run system.

In the past, Republican governors Tom Ridge and Dick Thornburgh unsuccessfully attempted to pass legislation to overhaul the state's liquor system.

This time around, the fight has stretched out for more than two years with House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, a Republican from Allegheny County, leading the charge.

Last year, Turzai's House Bill 11, a similar bill designed to end the state's liquor monopoly, made it to the House floor for debate but didn't come up for a vote.

This time, the debate is moving rapidly. The bill was proposed about three weeks ago.

During Wednesday's debate on the House floor, voting on amendments was swift, and ended abruptly. In fact, a majority of the 125 proposed amendments were withdrawn.

House Speaker Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, guessed that Democrats pulled amendments after seeing that the tide was flowing against their efforts to modernize the state liquor system rather than privatize it.

He was surprised, though, that so many of them had been pulled.

Rep. Mike Sturla, a Democratic caucus leader from Lancaster, said it was obvious some of the amendments were going to be defeated.

“Well, it didn't make sense. As I said, you know to quote Sarah Palin, 'It's like putting lipstick on a pig.' It was a horrible bill, and no matter how you dress it up, the basic premise is it's still a pretty horrible bill,” Sturla said.

Smith said he saw no obstacle standing in the way of the historic vote happening Thursday other than “a fair amount of restating why I'm for it or why I'm against it.”

Largely, Democrats seemed to have backed off after a key amendment proposed by Democrat Rep. Paul Costa of Allegheny County was defeated. It would have gutted the bill and called for the direct shipment of wine, more flexibility in pricing and increased Sunday hours at the LCB-operated stores.

Costa said modernization efforts would create an additional $20 to $70 million in revenue annually for the state.

Republicans including Rep. Kate Harper, who is from Montgomery County, came on the attack, saying “Everybody in this chamber recognizes that our current system of selling alcohol in Pennsylvania is antiquated, is old-fashioned and needs a change.” She likened Costa's amendment to to keep the current system as “a coat of paint on an old shed that is falling down.”

Reporter Jan Murphy contributed to this story.