Mississippi lawmakers voted to join other states with a standalone department of tourism, but due to a budget collapse at the hands of GOP lawmakers and no accompanying appropriations, Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed the bill on Thursday.
Senate Bill 2573, named the “Mississippi Tourism Reorganization Act,” was approved by both the House and Senate and would have separated the state’s current tourism branch, Visit Mississippi, and welcome centers into its own state agency. Currently, the state’s tourism falls under the Mississippi Development Authority.
Reeves noted in his veto message that while he’s “strongly opposed to enlarging the size of government,” he would have allowed the bill to become law if lawmakers had submitted appropriations bills showing how much money would go to MDA and the proposed Mississippi Department of Tourism.
“Due to the budget impasse between the Mississippi House of Representatives and the Mississippi Senate, Senate Bill 2573 is presented to me without the accompanying appropriations bills for either MDA or the newly created Mississippi Department of Tourism,” Reeves wrote.
“Accordingly, I am unable to determine either the impact that the removal of tourism-related duties from MDA will have on legislative appropriations for that agency, or if the legislative appropriations for the Mississippi Department of Tourism will be sufficient to enable it to be stood up and function as a standalone agency.”
The primary duty of MDA is to attract new businesses and expand existing ones, playing a major role in over $32 billion in private sector investment locating in Mississippi since Reeves took office in 2020, while also overseeing operations such as tourism. Reeves added in his veto message that leaving MDA without the necessary funding on the economic front would be “irresponsible,” and lawmakers need to be able to ensure both MDA and a new tourism department can perform at the highest levels.
“It would be irresponsible to either cripple the efforts of MDA at a time when the Mississippi economy is booming or to set up the newly created Mississippi Department of Tourism to fail, determinations that cannot be made at this time,” he wrote.
Mississippi’s tourism industry brought a record 43.7 million visitors and $17.5 billion in 2023, with last year’s numbers scheduled to be released in October. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle argued that separating the state’s tourism branch from MDA would allow for more attention and resources to be dedicated to the growing sector.
