What would Nebraska be without travelers and tourists? What would Kearney be without people coming here for state and regional conferences? What would Omaha be without the College World Series?

What would Lincoln be without Husker sports? What would Elmwood be without Bess Streeter Aldrich? What would Columbus be without Andrew Jackson Higgins? What would Seward be without the Fourth of July? What would Alliance be without Carhenge?

State and county tourism funds have been under attack this legislative session. Why?

A short-sighted bill would have allowed counties to sweep tourism funds and use them for any other purpose – paying the county attorney more, buying new office furniture, you name it. County tourism funds come from lodging taxes – taxes assessed on visitors to the county who are staying in hotels, motels and houses rented through online platforms. Counties use lodging tax revenues to bring more people to town to spend money on various goods and services. By attracting visitors, lodging taxes help reduce pressure on property (and income) taxes by boosting local sales and taxes generated by such sales.

Fortunately, the raid on county tourism funds failed, but that was not the end of the attack on Nebraska’s tourism industry.

As a proud Nebraskan who understands the value of bringing people to my community and state, I was shocked and disturbed to learn that the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee has recommended sweeping $5 million in funding for promoting Nebraska as a tourism destination. With that sweep into the state’s general fund, it would leave about $1.5 million to try to draw visitors to Nebraska. That would put Nebraska dead last in funding to promote tourism.

Tourism is Nebraska’s third largest industry. In the past several years, thanks to the good, hard work of the Tourism Commission and our industry, Nebraska has moved up the national rankings as a tourist destination. This is true despite low public funding. Tourism is critical not only to attracting visitors, but also in luring them here to live. God knows we need people, especially in rural Nebraska.

It just so happens that many of our greatest tourism attractions are in rural Nebraska. I’m not talking about convention centers or hotels. I’m not talking about zoos or arenas. I’m talking about the real stuff that makes life good in Nebraska – the wide-open places, the Sandhills, the rugged canyons of the Panhandle, the local meat markets and breweries, the good family business stops along the Passport Program that bring visitors and their money to the town.

I understand there were those who viewed the past tourism campaign negatively. I get it. Honestly, it was not for everyone. But let’s laugh a little and move the heck on. This is the State of Nebraska, not the District of Columbia. I am a firm believer that our Tourism Commission and Department of Economic Development should be coordinating closely with one another. Together, these agencies should work with the tourism industry, chambers of commerce and all stakeholders. We should all be collaborating to attract tourists and to recruit workforce. Let’s get people to Nebraska by hook and by crook.

Doing all of this will require vision and more – not less – money than has been appropriated or recommended. When the governor was in Kearney in August for an agriculture and economic development conference, he wisely challenged us “to become comfortable talking with others about things that make us uncomfortable.” That is not happening right now.

I would encourage the governor, the Legislature and everyone I’ve mentioned above to talk more and work together to improve tourism promotion and workforce recruitment at the state and local levels.

Let’s move forward. We cannot afford to slide backwards, especially in western Nebraska. It’s pretty simple. If we siphon off lodging taxes for non-tourism purposes, we are not going to attract as many tourists, who would be paying lodging taxes. Shrinking lodging taxes will cause further erosion of a tax base that is already too locally dependent. Not only will lodging taxes be depleted, but sales taxes will also decline.

This is not conjecture. Bill Geist, a national expert on destination promotion spoke in Lincoln last month at the Nebraska Tourism Unity Summit. Geist said when Sedona, Arizona, stopped tourism promotion, sales tax receipts plummeted 20% within seven months.

As lodging and sales taxes collapse, property tax pressure will only increase.

We cannot afford to bite off the hand that feeds us. Instead, we need to empower that hand.  Let us please be sensible and mature in how we address our state’s future.

This story was originally published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. It is part of the national nonprofit States Newsroom. Find more at nebraskaexaminer.com.