In a post this evening on MichiganLiberal.com, Michigan Republican Party chairman Saul Anuzis called for cuts to Michigan’s tourism spending. In listing a series of four cuts to Michigan spending, cutting tourism spending was the number one priority for the state’s top Republican.

Here are the facts:
* Last year Michigan spent just $5.7 million on tourism promotion, an amount that was dwarfed by other midwestern states
* For every $1 Michigan invests in tourism promotion, the state receives $3.47 in additional tax revenue. This is in addition to the $4 in increased economic activity for every $1 in public investment.
* The entire national marketing program targeted for cuts by the state Republican chair totals just $10 million. That amounts to less than one-half of one percent of the irresponsible SBT cut pushed through by Republicans last year that led Wall Street analysts to downgrade Michigan’s credit rating.
* Michigan’s tourism leaders are crying out for additional investment, even in these tough times. As Dan Musser, president of the Grand Hotel, recently said, aggressive tourism promotion makes good economic sense “as a time the state needs jobs and revenue.”
* Finally, the fact is that this is simply the latest in today’s Michigan Republican Party taking the short view, prefering damaging short-term cuts that hamstring our ability to compete over long-term investment that helps create sustainable economic prosperity for Michigan families.

Tourism is the number one economic sector in Northwest Michigan. The chairman of the state Republican Party wants to cut tourism investment, balancing the budget on the backs of the people of Northwest Michigan and making us pay for their mistakes and irresponsibility. Perhaps we need to send Chairman Anuzis and the whole of today’s Michigan Republican Party on a little vacation of their own. Once we fix the budget mess they created, they’re welcome to return.