LANSING – The entire Pure Michigan tourism promotion program was among the state programs cut by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's use of line-item vetoes Monday, a state official confirmed Tuesday.

Whitmer, a Democrat, said in a news release she vetoed 147 line items with a combined total of $947 million when she signed the 16 bills comprising the state's 2020 budget Monday. But Whitmer, who took the action just hours before the start of the fiscal year, released few details of the cuts.

The Capitol newsletter Gongwer News Service, citing multiple unnamed sources, first reported late Monday that Pure Michigan was among the programs axed by Whitmer. A state official confirmed the cut to the Free Press early Tuesday but declined to elaborate, saying Whitmer will have more to say about it.

Whitmer, in using the line-item budget veto more aggressively than any governor in Michigan history, is seeking leverage with Republican legislative leaders to further reshape the budget through renewed negotiations and a supplemental appropriations bill.

Pure Michigan received $36 million in the 2019 fiscal year that ended Monday. In her budget presented in March, Whitmer recommended a $5 million cut for the program. The budget approved by the Legislature reversed that cut and instead called for a $1 million funding increase.

At a news conference Tuesday, Whitmer said: "I love Pure Michigan," and "I think it's a fantastic ad campaign."

But she said other Republican cuts, such as ones to the Corrections Department, had endangered public safety, and in attempting to reshape the budget, "I'm always going to put public safety ... ahead of an ad campaign."

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In the 2020 budget sent to Whitmer by the Legislature, Pure Michigan appears as a $37.5 million line item in the Michigan Strategic Fund, part of the general government budget, with $500,000 of that amount earmarked to pay for a national conference.

In exercising a line-item veto, a Michigan governor has the power to strike the item entirely, but does not have the power to change the expenditure to a lower or higher amount, other than zero.

Pure Michigan: Watch all the commercials here

Pure Michigan radio and TV ads, narrated by actor and comedian Tim Allen, were launched in 2008 to promote Michigan as a tourism destination. Since then, the program has evolved beyond the advertising into a state brand featured on license plates and elsewhere.

The conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy has been a persistent critic of the program, disputing state-commissioned studies that show it brings a net economic impact to Michigan. Despite that criticism, the program has significant support among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

Other line-item veto cuts identified by Whitmer include $375 million in general fund money targeted for roads and more than $128 million in spending from the School Aid Fund, which supports K-12 education.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.