MISSOURI TRAVEL
COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE REPORT
The Missouri legislative session has
passed the halfway mark with key tourism
issues in good position for final
passage.
A 20.8-million-dollar budget for the
Division of Tourism has been adopted by
the House Budget Committee and is ready
for floor debate in the House of
Representatives when it returns from
spring break on March 26. The
recommended budget is a
2.8-million-dollar hike over the current
agency budget. The proposed budget for
the Division represents full funding for
the agency under the state's Tourism
Supplemental Fund mechanism.
Legislation to extend the sunset date
for the Tourism Supplemental Fund from
2010 to 2015 has cleared both the Senate
and House in differing versions. The
House version (HB205) sponsored by Rep.
B. J. Marsh awaits action in the Senate
Economic Development Committee.
Legislation to revise the state
school start-up date also has cleared
the Senate. The legislation (SB 64)
allows school opening no sooner than ten
days before the first Monday in
September. However, local school boards
could start sooner if they held a public
meeting on an earlier date, then voted
for the date at that same meeting.
The legislature is taking its spring
break next week and will return to the
Capitol on March 26. Eight weeks remain
in the 2007 legislative session.
Dale Amick
Legislative Consultant
Missouri Travel Council
