www.tourismdevelopmentalliance.org

Monday, March 3, 2008

Greetings everyone,

If you would like a copy of the latest version, please email me at joy@tourismdevelopmentalliance.org. Many thanks to the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia for their efforts to work towards a clean bill that is good for tourism and good for local governments.

There are two communities which would like to take advantage of the provisions of HB 1094; however they need to move forward on their projects this year. The following bills provide for projects that the Tourism Alliance can support and that would be eligible under HB 1094. In an effort to allow these communities to move forward, we remained neutral in committee. HB 302, sponsored by Rep. Robert Mumford, allows the City of Conyers to move from a 6% excise tax to 8%. HB 1168, sponsored by Chairman Larry O'Neal, allows the city of Perry to spend their tourism product development money on their GoFish initiative.

Thursday, Feb. 28, the General Assembly celebrated Taste of Macon, and it was a successful day for tourism policy.

HB 1100, this year's revision to the film incentive bill, passed out of Ways & Means on Thursday and is now in the Rules Committee.

HB 1129, our Tourism Development Act, passed the House unanimously on Thursday, Feb. 28, and has now been assigned to the Senate Finance Committee.

Also on Thursday, the House passed HB 393 and HB 1061, which will give our Georgia farm wineries the opportunity to reach their full potential. Congratulations to our Georgia wineries for their efforts on this legislation.

In the Senate Economic Development Committee, two of the Jekyll Island bills, SB 426 and SB 427 were unfavorably reported by the Committee. With a standing room only crowd, it was the opinion of the Committee that this issue was voted on last year with a healthy debate.

Senate Bills 426, 427 and 428 and HB 1289 will stifle ongoing revitalization efforts to create one of the Atlantic Seaboard's most environmentally-friendly beach communities on less than two percent of Jekyll Island's land. The revitalization efforts underway are necessary to bring quality and affordable accommodations to Jekyll so that Georgians will return to the island. Visitation to "Georgia's Jewel" has shown a steady decline for many years by every measure, including hotel nights, golf rounds, causeway traffic and historic district tours.

Specifically, the Senate bills limit lodging options, prevent revitalization in currently developable areas, subject the Jekyll Island Authority and its partners to litigation, and implement price controls on new development, which would effectively terminate private investment and the revitalization of Jekyll. The House bill includes some positive ideas on green development, but includes numerous details (including elements of the Senate bills) that will also prevent revitalization.

All of these bills are directly opposed to the mandate given to the Jekyll Island Authority by the Governor and the Legislative Oversight Committee, which includes the leadership of both the House and the Senate.
More information is available at www.rediscoverjekyll.com and www.jekyllislandfacts.com. 

The Budget Conference Committee continued to meet this week to reach a compromise on the FY-08 amended budget. While some progress has been made, there is still no resolution on a budget. This will most likely slow the legislative calendar down this week.

There was some new legislation that might be of interest introduced last week.

HB 1318 - State highway system; outdoor advertising signs; provisions

HB 1345 - Stone Mountain Memorial Association; exempt from taxation; clarify

HB 1356 - Alcoholic beverages; local authorization; Sunday sales; provisions

SR 1056 - Natural Resources, Dept of; urged to work in conjunction with Dept. of Economic Development; feasibility of restoring/preserving historic barns

Please remember to mark your calendars for our Governor's Conference on Tourism September 10-12, 2008 in Albany. GACVB, GDEcD and TDAG have joined forces to produce a unified industry conference. There will be valuable content for each of you and I hope you will make plans to join us. In this right-hand column, you will also find the Georgia Chamber of Commerce's Legislative Update on Speaker Richardson's Tax Proposal, a list of recent tourism bills and past Tourism Alliance News.

TDAG Legislative Update is made possible by the generous contributions of our members. If you enjoy the update, please consider supporting the Tourism Alliance through membership. For more information, visit our Web site at www.tourismdevelopmentalliance.org.

Thanks for all that you do to support out efforts to grow Georgia Tourism. The Tourism Alliance efforts would not be possible without your support. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

Joy Spears Walstrum

Tourism Development Alliance of Georgia

404-223-2264 (w)

404-358-5634 (m)

404-223-2290 (fax)

joy@tourismdevelopmentalliance.org