Gov. Rod Blagojevich spoke briefly of a plan to promote the southern Illinois wine industry in his third State of the State address Wednesday, two years after he cut funding for the industry’s major helper, the Illinois Grape and Wine Resources Council.

Local lawmakers say while they hope his plan will benefit the industry, it may be too little too late.

“A lot of the things he said are things that maybe should have been said two years ago and then we wouldn’t be in the state we are in now,” said Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.

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“Two years ago he completely cut the wine industry’s funding and made a joke of it saying it was a waste of money while the whole time we were telling him it was a growing industry,” Bost said.

When the wine council, which promoted agricultural research and development, was created in 1997, there were nine wineries in Illinois. With the council advising winemakers in developing proper growing techniques and finding the perfect soil, the industry grew nearly five-fold in seven years. Now there are more than 60 wineries across the state.

In his address, Blagojevich said the state should fund a promotion campaign for Illinois wine as well as support research into production methods and product testing. He even said he intends to declare September “Illinois Wine Month.”

Ted Wichmann, president of Owl Creek Vineyard in Cobden, said some sort of state funding is necessary for the industry to be competitive against other wine-producing states such as California and New York.

“Most other states get support from state government,” Wichmann said. “Since we lost funding over a year ago we don’t have anybody to help us decide which grapes grow best in what soil. We have been growing grapes for 20 years, but sometimes we have questions and there is no one to go to. What about the people who aren’t established?”

Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, said the “positive outlook” Blagojevich presented was nice, but that he offered no specifics on how to revitalize an industry with an estimated $2 million deficit.

Mike Lawrence, director of the Public Policy Institute at SIUC, said Blagojevich’s focus on developing business was in direct response to criticism that the governor has been “anti-business” through his support of higher fees and taxes.

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And while Blagojevich did not mention any “big ticket items,” Lawrence said it would be interesting to see how the governor will accomplish some of the plans he proposed.

“Even the small increases in personnel he is proposing to certain tasks, carry a price tag and the state is now spending more than it is taking in,” Lawrence said. “His ability to maneuver is going to be limited because of the states fiscal situation.”

While Blagojevich talked about a $2 billion clean coal power plant that will be built in Washington County, he said nothing about the efforts of local politicians to land the federally backed FutureGen clean coal power plant in southern Illinois. Bradley and Bost said although he didn’t talk about FutureGen, it is a plan Blagojevich has supported.

While this year’s address was a “feel good speech” compared to last year’s when he attacked the State Board of Education, Lawrence, Bradley and Bost said the real excitement would come during the governor’s Budget Address on Feb. 16.

“The key will be to see how he follows through,” Lawrence said. “It is a lot easier to talk about what you want to do than get it done. I think he made some good points in his remarks, and we ought to be watching to see how successful he is.”