As Gov. Whitmer focused on road funding in her March 5 budget presentation, tourism officials more than 100 miles away zeroed in on a different part of her plan: a proposed $5 million cut to Pure Michigan.

The announcement took the state’s tourism industry, gathered at the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism, by surprise.

“It was announced during the tourism conference, which was being hosted in Traverse City, and it was the number one concern,” said Trevor Tkach, president and CEO of Traverse City Tourism.

“It was the top talking point throughout the week, and I would say that it maintains that status now.”

The proposed cut would be the first decrease to Pure Michigan funding since it became its own line item in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. It clocked in at $25 million then, rising over the years to $36 million in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2019.

Whitmer’s proposed cut would bring it down to $31 million.

“The proposed $5 million decrease is due primarily to cost efficiency from focusing more on digital marketing efforts, so we felt like $31 million was the right funding level given the cost efficiencies,” said Kurt Weiss, communications director for the Department of Technology Management and Budget.

The state’s tourism industry is working to remind lawmakers of the popular tourism program’s importance as the budget moves into the legislative realm.

“Five million is a 14 percent cut. It is sizable,” said Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association.

He said the economy is going well right now and people have disposable dollars they’re using on things like tourism. Getting Michigan in their head now is important.

“We don’t know if those days are going to last forever, but while the economy is strong we really need to maximize it,” Winslow said.

Winslow and other Pure Michigan proponents point to state-commissioned studies on the economic activity the program generates. The most recent found in 2018, every $1 spent on Pure Michigan generated a $9.28 return on investment.

But Michael LaFaive, senior director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the free-market Mackinac Policy Center, has taken issue with that return on investment calculation and says it isn’t accurate. Beyond that, he said, subsidizing one industry in this way isn’t fair.

“There’s no reason to subsidize the tourism industry any more than the machine tool industry,” he said.

Of the proposed cut, he said, “I think it’s a good start, but they need to eliminate it.”

That’s not the feeling in Northern Michigan, which relies heavily on the tourism industry.

Rep. Jack O’Malley, R-Lake Ann, represents Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee and Mason counties along Lake Michigan. He supports keeping the money in the budget.

“I understand the money discussions, but there are certain things you can’t put a price on. And I’ve always referred to the Pure Michigan spots as Pride Michigan,” O’Malley said.

He spent years working in radio and TV broadcasting, and sees all advertising -- not just digital -- as important to getting the state’s message out.

“If you just say ‘well, digital advertising,’ well, there’s a ton of people who never look at that,” O’Malley said.

Ken Hayward, executive vice president and managing director of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island said they’ve directly seen the effects of the state’s successful Pure Michigan campaign.

The hotel offers an old-fashioned Fourth of July package, and shortly after the Pure Michigan ads graced screens nationally they saw more attendance from out-of-state than in-state residents for the event. That trend has continued not just for the Fourth of July, but generally.

“It’s just helped us become more of a tourist destination from people further away,” Hayward said.

“We feel that the further away they come from, the longer they stay, maybe the more they spend while we’re here.”

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Stamas, R-Midland, has championed the Pure Michigan program and favors keeping the funding in place, though he noted it was still in the early stages of the budget. He was out of state recently, and caught one of the commercials.

“I think that as you go across the country and you see the ‘Pure Michigan’, it’s effective,” Stamas said.

Whitmer’s proposal is the first step in the state budget process. Over the next several months, lawmakers will pass their own version and send it to Whitmer, who must sign off for it to become law. The new fiscal year starts Oct. 1, 2019 and goes through Sept. 30, 2020.