LANSING ? Gov.-elect Rick Snyder called Tuesday on the Legislature to pass funding for the Pure Michigan tourism advertising campaign and said it would be an immediate priority for his administration in 2011 if lawmakers fail to act.
Though Snyder did not tie funding for the ad program to a specific source, he repeated his support for the Pure Michigan campaign and said it should be funded.
“To the degree it didn’t get done” if the Legislature adjourns without enacting a funding source, he said in a press conference, he will take on the role of seeing that it does get funded when he takes over as governor on January 1, Snyder said.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Democrat-led House support legislation (HB 5017 ) that would assess a tax on rental cars rented near airports to provide a permanent source for tourism promotion funding. But that bill, after passing the House, has all but died in the Senate, where majority Republicans consider it a tax increase.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said the Legislature does not need to act to fund Pure Michigan in the short-term and he called on Granholm to act.
“I’m sure that he’s also shared with you the understanding that there is money there and he does agree that there is money there in the 21st Century Jobs Fund to pay for any winter buys that they might want to do,” Bishop said of Snyder’s view. “So we agree with him that Pure Michigan is a good investment. … We’ve appropriated the money already.”
But House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.), who also will serve as treasurer in the Snyder administration, disagreed. He said his understanding is that multiple bills would be needed to appropriate the money for the Pure Michigan campaign.
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