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Two Ohio projects named 'wasteful’ for taxpayers

Senator cites promotion of wineries, Appalachian development program.

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By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer Updated 9:07 PM Thursday, December 22, 2011

A federal lawmaker this week named two Ohio projects among “the most egregious ways... taxpayer dollars were wasted” this year.

One of the projects singled out is federal funding for an effort to teach Ohioans about wine and grapes.

The other is funding for an Appalachian economic development agency that the report claims is redundant with other agencies doing the same work.

The report, released by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, detailed more than 100 examples of purportedly wasteful federal projects with a total price tag of $6.5 billion.

In Ohio, he singled out $15,000 awarded to the Ohio Wine Producers Association to help promote Ohio wine to adults and grapes to children.

The two-year project will create a children’s book and school materials about grapes, YouTube videos about wine education and a game to promote wine tourism.

It was part of $55 million spent on 739 specialty crop grants nationwide, including $703,2878 spent on 16 projects in Ohio.

“Our grant was requested to support the amazing growth in the grape and wine community in Ohio,” said Donniella Winchell, executive director of the Ohio Wine Producers Association. “We are a huge economic vehicle, especially in rural Ohio.”

Winchell said a 2008 study found the industry supported more than 4,000 jobs at 125 wineries. Today, there are nearly 170 wineries in Ohio.

This includes Brandeberry Winery just north of Yellow Springs, owned by Jim Brandeberry.

“Wineries are mostly pretty small, they’re sort of family operations and promoting the wine industry is essentially helping the tourists find these smaller places and making sure they’re high quality because they do employ and generate quite a bit of income in the state,” Brandeberry said.

Coburn’s report also took aim at the Appalachian Regional Commission. The agency received $68 million in 2011 for economic development in the Appalachian mountain region, which spans 13 states, including Ohio.

The commission has taken hits from other groups including the Congressional Budget Office and Citizens against Government Waste. They argue it’s unclear whether victories claimed by the commission are to its credit or to the work of other groups and market forces, Coburn’s report says.

A media spokesman for the commission did not return calls for comment.

The agency’s website says it provides funding for several hundred projects each year that “create thousands of new jobs; improve local water and sewer systems; increase school readiness; expand access to health care; assist local communities with strategic planning; and provide technical and managerial assistance to emerging businesses.”

“Over the past 12 months, politicians argued, debated and lamented about how to reign in the federal government’s out-of-control spending,” Coburn said. “All the while, Washington was on a shopping binge, spending money we do not have on things we do not absolutely need.”

Other alleged excesses listed include $75,000 to promote Michigan’s Christmas trees and poinsettias; $113,227 for video game preservation center in New York; $48,700 for a chocolate festival in Hawaii; and $35 million allocated for political party conventions in 2012.

The largest cited examples of waste were $4.4 billion identified as lost to contract waste and fraud during military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and $1 billion in energy-efficient home-improvement tax credits possibly awarded to children, prisoners and others who don’t own homes.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374.

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