Students looking to savor a glass of local vino may not have to travel any farther than Wegmans if the State Legislature approves Governor Paterson’s recent proposal, which allows grocery stores to sell wine for the first time in New York State history. But the liquor store owners affected by the proposal claim that the governor based his decision on drunken logic.
The proposal came about as a means of decreasing the state’s multi-billion dollar budget gap. Supermarkets selling the wine would be required to pay a franchise fee to the state, which Paterson hopes would raise over $100 million.