HARRISBURG - A House committee chairman wants to boost tourism, cultural and arts funding with a cut of the state hotel room tax.
The proposed bill by Rep. Jerry Stern, R-80, Hollidaysburg, chairman of the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee, would dedicate a 1 percent share of the 6 percent hotel tax to marketing tourism and state cultural grants.
Of an estimated $33 million annually from such an earmark, 60 percent or $20 million would go to a new trust fund for tourism marketing. The remaining $13 million would go to replenish existing state grant programs for museums and arts and cultural groups.
The proposal doesn't involve hotel room taxes levied by counties.
Pennsylvania needs to make a new commitment to attract out-of-state tourists, Mr. Stern said.
"Because of recent state budget cuts to state programs designed to attract visitors, combined with aggressive marketing campaigns in other states, such as New York, Michigan and New Jersey, Pennsylvania has fallen from the fourth most visited state in the nation to the seventh," he said in a legislative memo.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development is budgeting $5.8 million this year for state tourism marketing, a sum sharply below the amount spent before the widespread state budget cuts accompanying the economic recession. A state budget bill being advanced by the House Republican majority would provide $6.6 million for tourism marketing next year.
"We support it (Mr. Stern's proposal) wholeheartedly," said Tracy Barone, executive director of the Lackawanna County Convention and Visitors Bureau Friday.
The convention bureau has seen a significant drop in state aid in recent years while it faces higher advertising costs in New York City and Philadelphia which are both receptive markets for attracting visitors to Lackawanna County, said Ms. Barone.
State aid is important, since tourism supports 5,000 jobs in Lackawanna County, she said.
Northeast Pennsylvania has invested in recent years in new tourism attractions such as casinos and sports arenas, but advertising is needed to help promote them, said Merle Mackin, executive director of the Luzerne County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"Our three-hour driving range is one of the most expensive (media markets) in the world," he said, referring to visitation from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.
Earmarking a portion of state hotel room tax revenue would mean a reinvestment of dollars generated by the tourism industry in the first place through hotel stays, said Rob Fulton, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Travel and Tourism.
"We are concerned with the level of tourism funding for the state right now," he said.
A study issued last year by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee urged lawmakers to provide a stable source of state funding for local museums to counter the impact of aid cuts in recent years. It recommended that grants be awarded in the future on such factors as number and diversity of visitors and operating budgets.
State aid to local museums dropped from $29.3 million in fiscal 2005-06 to $2.7 million in fiscal 2011-12, the study stated.
"It's certainly encouraging that people are talking about working to restore the funding and seeing the need," said Rusty Baker, executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of Museums and Historic Organizations.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com