Story revised at 4:10pm.
A bill that would fund the Pure Michigan ad campaign for the entire year will soon be on its way to Governor Rick Snyder for his signature. The additional $10 million dollar funding bill is the first measure approved by the Legislature that's expected to be signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder.
The Legislature has approved the additional dollars to keep the campaign on airwaves through the busy tourism months. Republican state Senator Geoff Hansen says the funding had to be approved this week before ad-buy costs go up.
"It was more important that we got it done right now because every day that we delay this means that we're going to have that less of a chance to buy the ads that we need," he says. "We can buy more now than we can in a week, so it was just so important to get it done."
The state will tap a venture capital fund to pay for the ads for the balance of this year.
Hansen says lawmakers still need to find a permanent funding source for the Pure Michigan ad campaign. He doesn't think that'll get resolved before next year. But a measure that would provide ongouing funding has been introduced in the Senate by Howard Walker, of Traverse City.
At least one northern Michigan lawmaker voted against funding for the Pure Michigan campaign. Representative Ray Franz was a 'no' vote earlier, when the bill was brought before the state House. Franz says he thinks the effectiveness of the campaign is overblown, and that it should be paid for largely by the tourism industry.
Linda Stephan contributed to this report.
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