Committee approves bed‑tax reallocation to expand emergency lodging for victims

Senate Bill 409 would revise how lodging facility use (bed) tax receipts are allocated, restoring clearer buckets for the Department of Commerce and increasing funding devoted to an emergency lodging and recovery account for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.

Sponsor Senator Dee Zolnikov explained SB 409 as a cleanup to the 2023 bed‑tax reforms: it removes a confusing subset of buckets that created auditing difficulties for the Department of Commerce and sets clearer percentage allocations for tourism advertising, rural pilot programs and a victims’ emergency lodging/recovery account. The bill raises the emergency lodging allocation from 0.1% to 2.5%, which Commerce staff estimated would add roughly $1.1–1.2 million per year in the first biennium (about $2.3 million for the biennium) to support hotel reimbursement for safe lodging and short‑term recovery services in rural areas.

Department of Commerce, Department of Justice victim services, lodging industry representatives and domestic‑violence coalitions testified in support, describing how the reimbursement approach aids rural law enforcement and victim care and reduces audit risk for the department. Commerce’s deputy director explained the administrative fix: rather than imposing post‑distribution spending requirements, the bill splits receipts when allocated to Commerce to avoid fiscal‑year closeout/audit complications.

Sponsor offered two committee amendments that clarified reimbursement language and eligible costs; both amendments passed by voice vote. During executive action the committee approved SB 409 (twice amended) and assigned a carrier for the floor.

Next steps: SB 409, as twice amended, passed committee and will go to the House floor with a committee carrier.