Bill is signed
LANSING (AP) -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm has, as expected, signed a bill that will help pay for the Pure Michigan tourism advertising campaign.
The bill that Granholm announced signing Wednesday transfers $10 million to the campaign from the state's 21st Century Jobs Fund.
The addition gives Pure Michigan more than $15 million for the current fiscal year and will provide enough cash to pay for a winter and spring tourism campaign.
The program would have been canceled if the extra money had not been approved, which would have impacted the tourism industry throughout Michigan and especially the U.P.
Pat Black, Executive Director of the Marquette Country Convention Visitors Bureau, expressed excitement about the funding being renewed because of an increase in tourism last year.
"In October, Marquette was up eight percent from last year, and I attribute a large part of that to Pure Michigan," said Black.
Other Pure Michigan advocates still are pushing to raise the annual budget for the program to about $30 million.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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