MARQUETTE ? Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder said the state’s tourism Pure Michigan marketing campaign would be fully funded under his Value for Money budgeting proposal, which would prioritize state spending to those programs that return value to taxpayers and would eliminate the annual status-quo budgeting process that often times lacks rhyme or reason.

Snyder made the announcement following a meeting with local hotel and restaurant owners concerned about what cutting the highly-successful advertising campaign means to their business and employees.

“The Pure Michigan marketing campaign is a prime example of a government program that provides great value to the state, returning more than two dollars for every one dollar of taxpayer investment,” Snyder said during a stop here on the second day of his three-day Upper Peninsula Reinventing Michigan Tour. “Pure Michigan is helping to boost the tourism industry and create jobs ? it’s a program we need to keep.”

Snyder is visiting 12 cities and towns on his U.P. tour to highlight Michigan’s tourism industry and the important role it plays in the state’s economy. Tourism is Michigan’s third largest industry, providing more than 190,000 jobs and pumping nearly $18 billion into the state?s economy each year.

Snyder, who frequently points to the Pure Michigan advertising campaign as an example of a government program that is creating jobs, said it was short-sighted for lawmakers to eliminate funding the highly-successful economic development tool and said the decision stems from Lansing?s broken budget system. He also chided the current administration for failing to keep the marketing program running by finding savings within the current state budget.

“The way it works now, the state looks at how much money was spent last year, adds a little bit on for inflation and calls it good. Nowhere in that process do lawmakers and state officials stop and ask if we were getting results for the money that is being spent. That’s wrong. We need to stop funding programs that aren’t working and put more resources behind those that are, like Pure Michigan,” Snyder said.

Snyder has outlined a 10-Point Plan to Reinvent Michigan, which includes his Value for Money budgeting proposal. The state of Washington recently employed these same principles and successfully eliminated a $2.2 billion structural deficit without raising taxes.

Snyder?s 10-Point Plan is available at RickForMichigan.Com

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