The past few
months has witnessed one of the
strangest legislative sessions in recent
years, but it appears that tourism
funding for the next fiscal year is
safe...at least this week.
The Missouri
Senate has approved $17.6 million as the
Division of Tourism budget, the figure
recommended by the governor and the
House of Representatives.
Since there is no
difference between the Senate and House
tourism budget versions, there should be
no tourism decision item for the joint
Senate/House conference committee that
must iron out the budget differences
between the two chambers. It should be
noted, though, that the Governor does
have line-item veto power on budgetary
matters.
This session began
with the governor recommending full
funding of tourism. In the House,
tourism overcame efforts to cut it by $4
million, $2 million and $1.75 million
during various points of the budget
process. Just when it looked like
tourism would take a $4.6 million hit,
the House Budget Committee recommended
full funding. In the Senate, no efforts
were made to cut tourism funding.
Updates on all
legislative items affecting tourism are
located on the Missouri Travel Council
website at "www.missouritravel.com".
A synopsis of a few that we have been
paying particular attention to are
listed below. Any bill that is not out
of committee in the chamber of its
origin should be considered dead.
SB193: Enhances
the duties and responsibilities of the
Missouri State Park Board. This bill was
introduced last year in response to
actions taken at two Civil War
cemeteries. It was approved in committee
last year but never saw a floor vote.
This year, it has been approved in
committee again and is now awaiting a
floor vote. A companion bill, HB491, was
approved by a House committee but is not
on the House floor calendar. To pass,
SB193 must receive full Senate approval
before going to the House for committee
and floor votes. All of this must take
place in two weeks. Missouri Travel
Council has endorsed this idea the past
two years.
SB269: Amends the
appropriations process for the already
existing tax on non-resident athletes
and entertainers. The bill designates
specific percentages of collections to
certain entities and then allows
non-listed communities apply for
remaining funds. A few communities have
expressed concern about this bill as it
specifically allocates money to
communities with which they must compete
while providing others with only a
chance to apply for funds. The bill was
approved by the Senate this week and
referred to the House. There it has been
approved by a House committee and is
awaiting a floor vote.
SB274: Regulates
travel clubs and requires them to be
bonded. The bill passed in the Senate
and a House committee and is awaiting a
floor vote in the House. Missouri Travel
Council endorsed this bill.
HB560: Limits the
number of casino licenses to 13 or the
number approved as of 2012. This bill
was approved by the House. House Speaker
Rod Jetton has stated that this would be
the ONLY casino-related bill that he
would allow to be debated in the House,
reasoning that he did not want the state
to raise casino taxes and fees and then
become dependent upon them. A number of
bills were introduced in the House and
Senate adjusting fees and eliminating
the $500 loss limit as a means of
funneling more money into education. All
of those bills should be considered
dead.
HB809: Although
this bill is dead for this session, it
will probably show up again in the
future. It would have allowed a
percentage of hotel/motel taxes in
Pemiscot County to be redistributed to
the general fund of cities that collect
those taxes with voter approval. This is
the second time in three years that a
bill such as this has been proposed, and
both occurrences have targeted
communities in Southeast Missouri. This
is an issue that warrants close scrutiny
by Convention and Visitors Bureaus and
lodging establishments across the state
as it sets a precedent that could
ultimately affect them. Three years ago,
a bill was passed allowing the transfer
of a percentage of lodging tax dollars
collected for the Sikeston/Miner CVB to
be moved to general revenue. In Pemiscot
County, lodging taxes that were to be
used expressly for tourism purposes were
passed in communities that have
virtually no tourism identities. While
the communities have been able to put
the collections to some use, a
considerable amount has been left
unspent. These communities now wish to
reallocate those funds for other
purposes. In many cases, hotels agree to
be taxed with the hope of seeing more
business. Bills such as HB809 bypass the
intent of the original legislation,
which is to promote tourism and attract
visitors.
The legislative
session ends in just over two weeks.
Gary Figgins
Legislative Chair
gfiggins@showmemissouri.net
