Funding for wine and grape foundation money well spent

MPNnow.com — Almost from the day he took office in March of 2008, Gov. David Paterson has harped on the state’s fiscal crisis, continually calling attention to multibillion-dollar budget deficits while promising to cut spending at every turn.

He has done plenty of cutting in his executive budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year. Among those on the chopping block? School districts, which would see a 5 percent reduction in state aid from current levels; health care facilities, in the form of less Medicaid spending; and state agencies, which would get about $1 billion less in funding than they do now.

Among those agencies would be the Canandaigua-based New York Wine & Grape Foundation. It has been down this road before.

In the 2008-09 fiscal year, the foundation — which primarily promotes the state’s wine industry — got $2.8 million in state funding. That number was cut to $1 million for 2009-10.

The number Paterson has in mind for the agency in the next fiscal year? It’s a nice, round number — and it rhymes with “hero.”

Surprisingly, the man who has headed up the foundation since the state created it in 1985 — Jim Trezise — didn’t seem fazed by the news.

“We basically have to cut back,” said Trezise, who has a staff of five full-time employees and a part-timer, but didn’t have to lay off anyone after last year’s budget cut.

The foundation does get money from other sources, namely wineries and grape growers. However, those donations are matched by state funding, and it’s highly unlikely the agency could make it on just private donations.

We swallowed hard and urged the agency to look for alternative funding in the wake of last year’s cuts — the thinking being we can’t constantly urge the Legislature to pare back spending then insist none of those cuts hit home. But no one suggested the foundation should cease operations.
By all accounts, it is doing good work. Its primary focus is to invest in research, development and promotion of local wines, and since the wine and grape industry is one of the few areas of the state economy that continues to grow, it appears the foundation is well worth the investment.

Trezise isn’t giving up without a fight, and plans on going to Albany frequently before the April 1 budget deadline to convince state legislators his agency deserves to be funded. He has an ally in state Sen. George Winner, whose 53rd District includes grape-rich Yates County.

This issue boils down to numbers, and here’s one Paterson and state legislators should chew on when it’s time to finalize the budget. The wine, grape and grape juice industries generate about $3.76 billion annually for the state’s economy.

“What we’re asking for is one one-thousandth of that,” Trezise said.

Lawmakers need to fund the New York Wine & Grape Foundation — to some extent. The agency has done fine work for decades, and Finger Lakes wineries will benefit if it continues to be a force.