The House Appropriations Committee approved, 29-21, and sent to the House floor a disaster-assistance bill that includes $1.5 million in research funding to address issues related to smoke-exposed winegrapes.
“We appreciate the committee’s decision to fund smoke exposure research and I want to commend, in particular, the leadership of California Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) to obtain these funds,” said California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) President John Aguirre.
CAWG and other industry organizations from California, Oregon and Washington originally requested $5 million for smoke exposure research. These groups will continue to push for the full $5 million as the U.S. Senate works on its bill to fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and related agencies.