OPINION: Grocery-store wine sales would be win-win

Marcia Bystryn is president of the New York League of Conservation Voters.

One of Long Island's greatest treasures is its farmland on the East End. Suffolk County is the leading agricultural county in New York in terms of value of crops produced and sold, and every year, thousands of visitors come far and wide to enjoy this natural splendor.

But visitors to the wine trails on the North and South Forks could soon find more strip malls and McMansions there, instead of vineyards. That's because Long Island's agricultural industry is facing intense pressure to develop its land to make way for suburban sprawl.

Fortunately, a popular, common-sense plan is under consideration in Albany that would go a long way toward keeping our vineyards protected from development: the proposal to allow the sale of wine in grocery stores. Gov. David A. Paterson included the idea in his budget, and while the Assembly and Senate budget plans did not, given the state of the budget negotiations in Albany and the size of the state's budget gap, they should reconsider.

Selling wine in grocery stores makes sense for Long Islanders who want to see our state pass a budget without raising taxes. According to the New York State Division of the Budget, selling wine in grocery stores would raise $300 million in revenue without raising a single tax.

It also makes sense for Long Islanders who want to create more jobs. At a time of record unemployment, the sale of wine in grocery stores would create more than 2,000 new jobs in the wine industry for grape farmers, wine makers and wine distributors combined.

Moreover, a study by Bradley Rickard - a widely respected Cornell University economist - found that the change would generate an additional $22 million in annual state revenues, above and beyond the $300 million in franchise fees. Those revenues could help offset teacher layoffs and even restore some environmental funding cuts.

Allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores makes sense for Long Islanders who want to preserve the character and charm of the East End. When farms fail, unplanned haphazard development usually follows, clogging our roads with congestion and resulting in other unintended negative consequences of poor planning. By increasing sales outlets for wine, we will help keep many of our farms operating successfully.

Finally, selling wine in grocery stores makes sense for Long Islanders who want to revitalize downtowns. One proposal that is being discussed as part of this legislation would help existing small liquor stores by allowing them to sell more kinds of goods and stay open longer. We need our downtowns to be revitalized in order to help keep development pressure in check, and this proposal helps in that regard, too.

The Senate and Assembly have some tough choices to make. With a huge and growing budget gap and no agreement from the Assembly, Senate and governor on how to close it, our legislators ought to make the sensible choice and make sure that the sale of wine in grocery stores is in the final budget. It's a popular win-win proposal that will help us avoid more disastrous cuts.

The choice for Long Island is clear. Six in 10 New Yorkers support selling wine in grocery stores. Numerous groups like teachers and law enforcement unions support it, and my organization, the New York League of Conservation Voters, has enthusiastically endorsed it. The status quo does nothing to protect our agricultural areas or create desperately needed jobs. On the other hand, bringing New York in line with the many other states that allow the sale of wine in grocery stores will. The Long Island delegation - especially the Suffolk County contingent - should support the sale of wine in grocery stores.