State officials outline Business and Economic Affairs budget; tourism marketing and rest-area operations draw focus

Department of Business and Economic Affairs officials answered legislative questions Thursday about a biennial budget that would restore tourism marketing funds, reorganize planning and housing functions, and keep 12 highway rest areas open despite staffing and temporary-position constraints.

Committee members spent much of an hour on the agency's request for a larger marketing budget for travel and tourism that officials said is computed from the meals-and-rooms tax net and restored after a regulatory change. "It's typically 3.15% of the net of meals and rooms tax revenue," said Chase Hegeman, director of the division of economic development at the agency, describing the formula by which tourism promotion funds are derived. He told lawmakers the additional funds would be used for…