[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3225 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3225

 To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a competitive grant 
             program to promote domestic regional tourism.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 19, 2010

Mr. Begich (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Schumer) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a competitive grant 
             program to promote domestic regional tourism.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Travel Regional Investment 
Partnership Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The importance of travel and tourism cannot be 
        overstated: travel and tourism employs America.
            (2) Approximately 8,300,000 domestic jobs depend on the 
        travel and tourism industry.
            (3) The United States travel and tourism industry--
                    (A) generates more than $691,000,000,000 annually 
                in direct spending, of which more than 85 percent is 
                the result of domestic travel; and
                    (B) generates more than $1,200,000,000,000 in total 
                spending, if indirect spending is included.
            (4) The travel and tourism industry accounts for 2.6 
        percent of the Nation's gross domestic product, nearly 4 times 
        that of the automotive industry.
            (5) Domestic employment related to the travel and tourism 
        industry cannot be outsourced to other countries.
            (6) The current economic downturn has created the most 
        difficult economic environment for the domestic travel and 
        tourism industry since the period following the terrorist 
        attacks of September 11, 2001.
            (7) Travel and tourism revenues dropped by nearly 
        $130,000,000,000 during 2009. The domestic tourism economy has 
        fallen by nearly 4.5 percent during 2009, twice the rate of the 
        overall economy of the United States.
            (8) Domestic spending on travel and tourism has been in 
        decline since the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008, while 
        employment in the travel and tourism industry has been falling 
        since the second quarter of such year.
            (9) Public-private partnerships have been underutilized in 
        the promotion of travel and tourism and are a dynamic tool in 
        creating new domestic tourism markets and promoting domestic 
        regional tourism growth.

SEC. 3. DOMESTIC REGIONAL TOURISM GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Commerce shall establish a 
competitive grant program, to be administered by the Office of Travel 
and Tourism Industries, to promote domestic regional tourism growth and 
new domestic tourism market creation.
    (b) Range of Grant Monetary Amounts.--The amount of each grant 
awarded under this section shall be at least $100,000 and not more than 
$1,000,000.
    (c) Grantee Eligibility Requirements.--
            (1) Eligible entities.--Grants may be awarded under this 
        section to--
                    (A) State tourism offices;
                    (B) local convention and visitors bureaus; and
                    (C) partnerships between a State or local 
                government and local tourism entities.
            (2) Regional diversity.--In awarding grants under this 
        section, the Secretary may consider--
                    (A) giving priority to regions with low 
                contributions to tourism marketing;
                    (B) maintaining regional diversity of grant 
                recipients; and
                    (C) providing benefits to rural and less-marketed 
                destinations.
            (3) Use of funds.--Grants awarded under this section may be 
        used to--
                    (A) promote domestic regional tourism growth; and
                    (B) create new domestic tourism markets.
            (4) Application process.--
                    (A) Submission.--An eligible entity seeking a grant 
                under this section shall submit an application to the 
                Secretary at such time, in such form, and with such 
                information and assurances as the Secretary may 
                require.
                    (B) Contents.--Each application submitted under 
                subparagraph (A) shall include--
                            (i) a description of the tourist promotion 
                        activities to be funded by the grant; and
                            (ii) in the case of a partnership between a 
                        State or local government and local tourism 
                        entities--
                                    (I) a list of the specific tourist 
                                entities that such government has 
                                partnered with in order promote tourism 
                                within the relevant domestic region;
                                    (II) the details of the partnership 
                                agreement;
                                    (III) specific information 
                                explaining how such partnership will 
                                increase regional tourism; and
                                    (IV) the anticipated positive 
                                impact of the partnership on job 
                                creation and employment in the relevant 
                                domestic region.
    (d) Matching Requirement.--
            (1) Non-federal funds.--As a condition for receiving a 
        grant under this section, the grant recipient shall provide, 
        either directly or through donations from public or private 
        entities, non-Federal matching funds, in cash or in-kind, in an 
        amount equal to the amount of the grant.
            (2) Special rule for in-kind donations.--Of the amount of 
        non-Federal matching funds required under paragraph (1), not 
        more than 25 percent may be provided through in-kind 
        contributions.
    (e) Reports.--Not later than 6 months after the end of each fiscal 
year in which grants are awarded by the Secretary under this section, 
the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that details--
            (1) travel-generated expenditures;
            (2) travel-generated tax receipts; and
            (3) travel-generated employment.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Local tourist entity.--The term ``local tourist 
        entity'' means any public or private sector business engaged in 
        tourism-related activities.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated, for each of the first 5 fiscal years beginning after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, $10,000,000, which shall be used for 
grants under this section and shall remain available until expended.
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