Kansas committee approves substitute for sports tourism grant program with $1.5 million cap and local match

The House Committee on Commerce on Wednesday approved a substitute for House Bill 2346 to establish the Kansas Sports Tourism Grant Program, which would be administered by the Secretary of Commerce and funded up to $1,500,000 to help communities support and host sports events.

The substitute, described to the committee by Revisor Reimer, rewrites the original bill to make grants matching awards awarded as a pledge after events, require post‑event reporting and economic-impact calculations, and remove a separate advisory committee so that the secretary approves awards. "The bill before the committee establishes the Kansas Sports Tourism Grant Program, administered by the Secretary of Commerce for the purpose of assisting communities to develop and continue as a venue for supporting events," Reimer told the panel.

The change reduces this year's fiscal note by requiring a local match; Reimer said grants are matched on a 1-to-1 basis with funds from one or more sponsors and that grants will be awarded after the event based on post-event data. The substitute also caps a single grant at no more than 12.5% of the state sales tax generated in the local jurisdiction during the event (the earlier draft used 25%), and prohibits grant funds for projects involving major sports organizations, many state high‑school activities, or projects for which goods or services were not competitively bid.

Committee members discussed geographic targeting and reserving funds for smaller communities. The substitute includes a provision that the Secretary allocate or reserve a portion of available funds for projects outside the three largest metropolitan counties; committee discussion settled on reserving $250,000 for projects in counties other than Wyandotte, Johnson and Sedgwick to ensure some distribution to smaller jurisdictions. Representative Wasinger and others said rural communities do host large tournaments and should have access to funds.

The bill requires a post-event report that must include actual expenses, hotel nights, and the economic-impact calculation (using the Destination International Event Impact calculator). Reimer said the secretary may charge an application fee and may require that event owners obtain one or more grama sponsors (for example, a sports commission, city commission, recreation committee, destination marketing organization or the hosting municipality). The substitute also creates the Kansas Sports Tourism Program Grant Fund, funded initially by a transfer from the State Economic Development Initiatives Fund (EDIF) and, if those funds are insufficient, by the State General Fund; the fund is maintained at $1,500,000 by annual transfers as written in the draft.

Committee members asked about timing for sales-tax receipts and reporting; Reimer said the statute requires reporting within 90 days or "as soon thereafter as that information would come in," allowing leeway if revenue data is delayed. Representative Corbett and others requested that the annual report include the number of grants awarded, aggregate economic impact, hotel nights booked by locality, total state sales tax generated during events (and comparisons to prior years), recipients and sponsors, and distribution of funds by county; Reimer noted the bill requires an annual report to the committee and the Legislative Coordinating Council that lists those items. The substitute also contains a sunset provision: "This act is to expire on 06/30/2030," Reimer said.

The committee approved a balloon amendment to replace the prior draft and then voted to pass the substitute favorably as amended. Both the amendment and the final passage were taken by voice vote and recorded as passing by the committee. The substitute will be reported out of committee for further consideration by the full legislature.

Votes at a glance: The committee adopted the balloon amendment and subsequently approved the substitute for House Bill 2346 favorably as amended by voice votes; the transcript contains no roll-call counts.