- Governor Tate Reeves said he would allow the bill to become law if sufficient appropriations are provided to both MDA and the new Department of Tourism.
Lawmakers have for years debated creating as standalone Mississippi Department of Tourism, separating it out from the Mississippi Development Authority, the state’s economic development agency.
This session, SB 2573 titled the “Mississippi Tourism Reorganization Act” was overwhelmingly passed in both the House and Senate. Under the bill, personnel related to tourism, including those at the state’s welcome centers and Visit Mississippi, would be transferred to the new state agency, which was to be up and running come July.
However, on Thursday, Governor Tate Reeves (R) vetoed the measure, saying, “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.”
“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 stand-alone agency,” Reeves stated in his veto message.
The Governor added that while he is “strongly opposed to enlarging the size of government by creating a new state agency and have tirelessly fought to shrink the size of government and not take one cent more from taxpayers than is absolutely necessary to fund the essential functions of government, if sufficient appropriations are provided to both MDA and the Mississippi Department of Tourism, I would allow this bill to become law.”
With lawmakers having to return for a special session before July 1 to set a state budget, this measure could be reconsidered if Governor Reeves allows it to be placed on the agenda.
For now, since the legislation is unaccompanied by its companion appropriations bills, Reeves said he is compelled to veto it at this time.
“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,” Governor Reeves added.
As previously reported, tourism in Mississippi brought in a record-breaking $17.5 billion in 2023, Visit Mississippi reported at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism earlier this year. The annual Tourism Economic Contribution Report also revealed that the state welcomed a record 43.7 million visitors that year.
