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Appropriations Committee trims Commerce budget; boosts tourism grants and creates Office of Global Talent funding
Summary
The committee approved Senate Bill 2018 as amended (passed 14–1–1), reducing the governor's recommended Commerce spending, increasing tourism destination grants to $20 million and funding a renamed Office of Global Talent at $1 million split between operations and grants.
The Appropriations Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 2018, the Department of Commerce budget, approving the committee amendment and recommending a due-pass; the committee later recorded a final vote of 14–1–1.
Committee members reduced the governor’s recommendation and reallocated state investment across multiple Commerce programs: combined marketing dollars were cut to $7 million (from a proposed $10 million), tourism destination development grants were increased to $20 million, the Operation Intern program is funded at $3 million total, and the Office of Legal Immigration will be renamed and funded as the Office of Global Talent with $1 million (split roughly $500,000 for grants and $500,000 for operations).
Senator Dwyer, who presented the budget, said the committee pared back several requests while maintaining targeted investments to support workforce development and tourism. “When people are…
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