La. Tourism Ad Campaign Subject Of Dispute

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne and the Jindal administration are at odds over a $4 million tourism campaign Dardenne wants to launch this spring to market Louisiana to potential visitors. The dispute between Dardenne and Jindal's commissioner of administration, Paul Rainwater, was put before lawmakers Friday in a meeting of the joint budget committee. Dardenne, who oversees state tourism efforts, is pushing to get $4 million in his budget reallocated to a new advertising campaign called "Pick Your Passion." He says the marketing bid must begin within weeks to take advantage of the summer traveling season. Rainwater says he wants to get the money to Dardenne, but says he needs more time to work out the financing details. Committee members said they supported Dardenne's request, but can't rework the tourism budget without Rainwater's approval.