Thank you to those who attended last week’s industry Bill Review in Lake Charles. It was an excellent opportunity to both preview a number of issues that will continue to affect our industry, as well as review specific bills that had already been filed.
We appreciate the Lt. Governor, the Louisiana Department of Revenue’s Luke Morris, LCFOR’s Erich Ponti and Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation’s Jay Cicero for taking the time to present details on important issues.
Below are notes, documents and recently filed legislation related to each presentation. Note that additional issues discussed at the Bill Review may be included in other parts of this newsletter:
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10% cap on in-state advertising – SCR 4 was filed late last week to lift the cap that limits the Lt. Governor and LOT to spending only 10 percent of the tourism budget on in-state advertising. As Americans begin to travel again, research shows that staycations and regional road trips are an important part of the early return to travel. Suspension of this cap will allow LOT to encourage these trips by marketing close to home. The travel industry is in full support of the Lt. Governor’s request to lift this cap.
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Statewide tourism marketing budget - Fully funding the budget of the Louisiana Office of Tourism and protecting Visitor Enterprise Funds for each Louisiana community are priorities for LTA. We will be breaking down the specifics of this tourism funding in HB 1 in next week’s alert.
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Centralized tax collection – This multi-faceted issue has garnered a lot of attention over the last few years, with its possible implications for occupancy taxes of specific interest to the travel industry. Two bills were filed last week to move toward centralized tax collection, HB 199 and SB 177. LTA and LACVB will be closely monitoring this legislation and the possible effects on our travel industry businesses and the CVBs.
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Transportation infrastructure – An effort to raise the state’s gas tax has gained momentum in recent years, as the need for transportation and infrastructure improvements has grown. Efforts to increase the gas tax stalled in mid-March, but they have been renewed with the filing of HB 615 by Rep. Freiberg. Rep. Jack McFarland also has filed HB 511 which aims to revise the oversight of DOTD, propose new sources of infrastructure funding and more. Transportation Infrastructure is a key policy issue for the travel industry and LTA will be monitoring this legislation.
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Major Events Incentive Fund – The MEIF helps to fund major sporting events through the General Fund that qualify as significant economic drivers. In the current draft of the state budget, HB 1, $5.5 million is included to support the 2022 NCAA Men’s Final Four Local Organizing Committee. This committee will raise an additional $2.5 million through private resources. Related legislation includes SB 162, which makes a technical edit to the MEIF to include the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision postseason game as a qualified event. LTA and LACVB fully supports this funding request and legislation.
