Washington Tourism Marketing Authority.?The Washington Tourism Marketing Authority (Authority) was created through legislation in 2018. The Authority contracts for statewide tourism marketing services that promote tourism in Washington. ?The Authority is governed by a board of directors. ?A nonvoting advisory committee advises the board.
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Statewide Tourism Marketing Account. Of the taxes collected on the retail sales of lodging, car rentals, and restaurants, 0.2 percent must be deposited into the Statewide Tourism Marketing Account (Account). ?Up to $3 million of revenue may be collected per biennium and must be deposited into the Account. ?The deposit to the Account may only occur if the Legislature authorizes the deposit in the biennial omnibus appropriation act.

Expenditures from the Account may only be made for allowable expenses related to implementation of the statewide tourism program and operation of the Authority. ?The Account is subject to appropriation. ?During the 2023 legislative session the Legislature authorized a reduced match requirement for expenditures from the Account. The match of nonstate or state fund, other than State General Fund, went from two-to-one to one-to-one, for all expenditures from the Account.

A match may consist of nonstate or state fund, other than State General Fund, cash contributions, the value of an advertising equivalency contribution, or an in-kind contribution. ?The Authority's board of directors must determine criteria for what qualifies as an in-kind contribution.

The requirement that the deposit to the Account may only occur if the Legislature authorizes the deposit in the biennial omnibus appropriation act, in addition to appropriating funds, is removed.