HBA-KDB H.B. 755 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 755 By: Gallego Ways & Means 3/15/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Tourism is the third largest industry in Texas and generated $36.7 billion in spending in 1999. However, some feel that the industry gets little attention from the legislature even though tourism creates jobs and increases the state's tax base. House Bill 755 creates the state tourism account to which the state allocates a percentage of taxes on certain tourism goods and services. 3/15/2001 RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 755 amends the Tax Code to provide that the state tourism account (tourism account) is an account in the general revenue fund. The bill sets forth the requirements by which the comptroller of public accounts determines the amount of revenue derived from the collection of limited sales, excise, and use taxes on tourism goods and services to allocate a certain amount of the revenue to the tourism account. The bill sets forth provisions relating to the appropriation of revenue in the tourism account. The bill requires that the interest earned on the tourism account be credited to the tourism account. The bill provides that the tourism account is exempt from the application of provisions relating to the use of dedicated revenue. The bill requires an agency that receives an appropriation for the purpose of promoting tourism to file with the speaker of the house of representatives, the lieutenant governor, the House Appropriations Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee a report, no later than December 31 of each even-numbered year, that states its domestic or international marketing and advertising plans for the next two years related to the purposes of promoting tourism and the growth, if any, during the preceding two years in a category of tourism goods and services that the agency estimates is associated with those marketing and advertising plans. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.