House and Senate budget axe tourism development incentive program

03/23/2018 03:14 PM

by Nick Storm
• @NStorm_politics

• 2 Comments
• Filed under: From Frankfort

FRANKFORT — In addition to axing a controversial film credit, both chambers in the General Assembly have raided a tourism development incentive, which can be used to develop cultural and historical sites and entertainment facilities, among other things.

The Kentucky Tourism Development Incentive was removed from the budget on purpose, Senate Budget Chair Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, told Pure Politics this week in an effort to find revenues for other budgeted items.

“It was definitely deliberate that it came out,” McDaniel said. “It was something that the House had included and consequently to put it back in would have caused us to book an additional hit to the revenue that we needed in order to get the budget to balance.”

McDaniel said the incentive could be put back into the budget during the free conference committee, which began Friday morning in Frankfort.

Nick Storm

Nick Storm is the Anchor and Managing Editor of Pure Politics available exclusively on Spectrum News. Pure Politics is the only nightly program dedicated to Kentucky politics. Nick covers all of the political heavyweights and his investigative work brings to light issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, like his coverage of the backlog of DNA rape kits waiting to be tested in Kentucky. Nick is also working on a feature length bio documentary Outlaw Poet: A documentary on Ron Whitehead. Pure Politics airs weeknight at 7 and 11:30 on Spectrum News. Follow Nick on Twitter @NStorm_Politics. Nick can be reached at 502-792-1107 or nicholas.storm@charter.com.

2 Comments

Comments

Ed Jessup wrote on March 24, 2018 11:55 AM :

In this budget, we need a two-year moratorium on tax incentives for tourism and for the much larger “economic development” program.

There are thousands of businesses that are paying little or no state tax because they’ve been given a break at some point in the last 20 years, and they continue to benefit.

These businesses should stand on their own two feet — compete in the free market for just two years without public assistance. If a business can’t succeed without scarfing up our tax dollars, they shouldn’t be in business anyway.
BBQtip wrote on March 25, 2018 11:09 PM :

After watching Stormy Daniels on 60 Minutes, I wonder how many people or foreign countries have compromising information on the President?

He never released any tax information, and he’s denying all relationships with women, but every time his lips move, he’s lying.

Where do we go with such a liar as President?