Squeeze threatens state wine industry(2)
Gov. Paterson is the midst of a 30-day amendment period that allows him to adjust his budget proposal before submitting it to the Legislature. What we can hope is that he restores the funding line. By all means, cut the amount from last year, as the times demand, but don't kill it. New York's best wine days, with roses to follow, are still ahead of us, unless we nip both in the bud.
Of course, in these dire financial times every splinter group and special interest is screaming ''not me, not me'' when it comes to cuts. And today, when Paterson delivers his first state of the state address, we can expect only shades of black in terms of our economic future, which will reaffirm the need for draconian measures.
But what I believe has been missed here by the bean counters looking for unorthodox places to make budget cuts, is that the New York Wine and Grape Foundation is not your ordinary, and therefore vulnerable, bunch of promoters and marketers. It is a primary and essential tool of economic development for a New York agricultural success story.
Julie Suarez, spokesperson for New York Farm Bureau, notes that ''for agriculture, you can't look to traditional economic development models, because they don't work well. The ones that do tend to be like the Wine and Grape Foundation.''
The foundation works, so please, let's keep it thriving. Nobody wants to go back to the days of eau de concord.
