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Committee hears HB 2037 to add tourism council members, rebalance attraction grants; no vote recorded
Summary
HB 2037 would add three seats to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Council, change the State Matching Grant Program allocation from 75/25 in favor of public/nonprofit entities to a 50/50 split with for‑profits, and remove a percentage cap that limited grants to a single entity; the committee held a hearing but did not vote on the bill.
Charles Reimer, a revisor for the legislature, summarized HB 2037 to the Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development as a bill that would change council membership and alter how Tourism’s attraction development matching grants are allocated.
Reimer said the bill adds three members to the advisory council that advises the secretary of commerce on tourism development: a Kansas resident representative nominated by the National Independent Venue Association, a representative of the Kansas Museums Association and a representative of the Kansas Sampler Foundation. "It adds 3 members, 3 additional members to that council, that are representatives of organizations that are engaged in the travel and tourism industry," Reimer said. The bill also modifies legislative representation on the council to reflect the Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development rather than the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Reimer described changes to the State Matching Grant Program, which the Department of Commerce administers for attraction development. Under current law the program allocates 75% of funds to public entities and nonprofits and 25% to private entities; the bill would move to a 50/50 split and would remove a current restriction that capped grant awards to a single entity at a percentage of each category’s allocation. If enacted, Reimer said, the bill would take effect July 1, 2025.
Rachel Willis, director of legislative affairs for the Department of Commerce, testified in support and reiterated department rationale for expanding council membership and rebalancing the grant split. She said the department is seeing demand from both nonprofit and for‑profit applicants and referenced 2024 application figures: 30 nonprofit applicants and 40 for‑profit or government applicants. "We're just wanting to move that percentage from 75/25 percent to 50/50 so it aligns better because we continue to see this trend," Willis said.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about who currently receives the larger share and how the 50/50 split would be administered. Willis confirmed that public entities and nonprofits currently receive 75% of attraction development grant funds and that the bill would allocate 50% to for‑profit applicants and 50% to public/nonprofit applicants.
No neutral or opposing witnesses appeared and no committee vote or amendment was recorded at the hearing. Representative Sutton, who said he had previously supported the bill in prior sessions, described himself as effectively neutral at this point: "After passing this bill out 3 times, I can almost say that I'm neutral," he said. The committee chair closed the hearing and moved to other business.
