US News

$410B BILL TURNS GRAPES INTO PORK

A $410 billion spending bill unveiled yesterday will fund the US government for the rest of the fiscal year – and kick in $2.2 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in upstate New York.

The measure comes just days after the $787 billion economic-stimulus package was signed; it’ll be voted on by the House later this week.

But it’s not all nuts and bolts – there’s plenty of pork, like the millions for the grape center in Geneva, NY, thanks to Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Reps. Maurice Hinchey and Michael Arcuri.

Other New York earmarks include: $143,000 for Manhattan’s American Ballet Theatre “for educational activities”; $214,000 for Stony Brook University “to teach scientists how to effectively communicate with the public and the press”; and $950,000 for a Poughkeepsie pedestrian bridge.

The measure also includes $500,000 for a Senate “pilot program” to defray the cost of mass-mail postcards notifying constituents of town-hall meetings.