And gambling revenues are among potential sources of funding for the project.
TOPEKA - A Senate panel endorsed legislation Thursday that would revamp the state's promotion of tourism by creating an independent state agency.
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced a bill for debate on the Senate floor creating the Kansas Tourism Corporation, a partnership governed by state officials and tourism industry leaders.
The legislation would shift the responsibility for promoting tourism from the state Department of Commerce to the new agency, which some lawmakers believe would help the state woo more visitors to Kansas.
However, committee members balked at funding the effort with casino revenues which have yet to be realized following the narrow passage of an expanded gambling law last year.
"This can be successful, but I don't want the bill to die because there's concern about the gambling money," said Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita.
A measure authorizing four state-owned destination casinos and slot machines at racetracks is being challenged before the Kansas Supreme Court later this year.
Backers of the tourism initiative, which is patterned after the Kansas Bioscience Authority, initially hoped to use several sources of revenues, including gaming money, to bolster the state's relatively small budget for tourism.
Although tourism pumps $5.6 billion a year into the Kansas economy, the budget of the state's tourism office ranked 44th among 50 states at $4.5 million last year.
Sen. Ruth Teichman, R-Stafford, said the lack of funding has even become a concern for some in her central Kansas district.
"They're tired of not getting any moneys into tourism," she said.
One new source of funding for promoting tourism would come from the industry itself. The bill provides that half of the growth in state sales tax revenues produced from tourism companies would go back to the new agency.
Estimates suggest the change would translate initially into an additional $4 million for promoting ways to increase the number of visitors coming to the state. Proponents also sought to secure about $4 million of the state's share of casino profits.
However, one committee member, Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, said she opposed that approach because the law authorizing those casinos had yet to be upheld. Wagle, a gambling opponent, also expressed concern that the bill could reopen the state's gambling debate if it advanced to the House floor.
Sedgwick County residents voted down a question last year allowing them to offer slot machines at a racetrack in Valley Center. But some gambling proponents have talked about passing a bill to allow a revote.
Wagle said she feared the tourism legislation could become a vehicle for such efforts if it included proposals related to how gambling dollars are spent.
However, Sen. Nick Jordan, R-Shawnee, expressed concern about taking an option for funding tourism off the table.
"The reason we're here is that the tourism industry has been coming to the Legislature for 25 years," said Jordan, the committee's co-chairman.
Sen. Karin Brownlee, R-Olathe, asked that gambling dollars be removed as a source of funding for the new tourism agency, and the committee adopted her request. She said lawmakers could revisit the question later on.
"We could come back next year once we have a decision from the court," said Brownlee, the panel's co-chairwoman.
The bill now advances for likely debate on the Senate floor, which could come next week. |
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