Lawmakers look to double NJ arts, tourism spending to over $100M
TRENTON – State lawmakers gave initial approval Thursday to a plan to boost state spending on arts, cultural, historical and tourism programs by more than $70 million in the coming year, which would be more than $50 million above what Gov. Phil Murphy proposes in his budget plan.
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The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation unanimously endorsed a bill, S2986, that would allocate all revenue from the hotel and motel occupancy fee for arts, historical heritage, and tourism purposes.
Representatives from those industries say it’s needed to rescue that part of the economy from the impacts of the pandemic, which have been particularly crippling due to capacity restrictions.