Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tourism Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee moves $100,000 East Baton Rouge enhancement allocation to Visit Baton Rouge
Summary
The Appropriations Committee reported House Bill 226 favorably to redirect $100,000 from the East Baton Rouge Parish Enhancement Fund to Visit Baton Rouge for event attraction and marketing previously handled by a now-defunct sports foundation.
The House Appropriations Committee on April 22 reported House Bill 226 favorably, a bill that redirects roughly $100,000 annually from the East Baton Rouge Parish Enhancement Fund to Visit Baton Rouge to support sports and event bidding and marketing.
Representative Freiburg said the Sports BR foundation no longer exists and the bill would transfer the $100,000 allocation to Visit Baton Rouge, the parish’s destination marketing organization. "Visit Baton Rouge is a fully accredited destination marketing organization…we are a political subdivision of the state of Louisiana and therefore we are legislatively audited," said Jill Kidder, president and CEO of Visit Baton Rouge.
Kidder told the committee Visit Baton Rouge has bid on and attracted large events to the parish and provided examples: between March and July the organization expects to host 58,000 bowlers for a United States Bowling Congress event, an activity she estimated would produce $110 million to $120 million in economic impact and roughly $4.5 million to $5 million in state net receipts.
Committee members asked about the size of the enhancement fund; Kidder said Visit Baton Rouge has not previously received those dollars and that the $100,000 would be used for event-bidding activities, not salaries. Representative Marcel moved to report the bill favorable; with no objection, House Bill 226 was reported favorable by the committee.
The bill will transfer the specified enhancement allocation to Visit Baton Rouge once enacted.
