AGRITOURISM Act Endorsements Requested
NPS and NHA funding letter updates
Next week, the Accelerating the Growth of Rural Innovation and Tourism Opportunities to Uphold Rural Industries and Sustainable Marketplaces (AGRITOURISM) Act will be introduced in the House of Representatives. The AGRITOURISM Act would create an Office of Agritourism within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, tasked with advising the Secretary of Agriculture on agritourism-related policy matters, promoting agritourism activities, and ensuring that information about federal resources available to agritourism businesses is easily accessible.
We lost the lead sponsor, Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), who did not run for reelection due to health issues but her replacement, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) has stepped up to champion the bill and he is continuing her efforts to undertake this work on a bipartisan basis. Rep. Dave Rouzer (R-NC) and Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) are the Republican sponsors. The text of the legislation remains unchanged from the last Congress and can be read here.
The three sponsors have reached out to ask for tourism offices and business to endorse the bill. If you are interesting in endorsing, you can respond with a comment to this post or send me an email that lets me know how you would like your organization to be listed. Please feel free to share this update with anyone in your network that you think would like to support this bill. My email address is: halleczech@mac.com
The deadline for endorsing is COB on Friday, May 2.
Congress returned to DC today and with FY26 appropriations season underway I wanted to provide an update on the National Park Service (NPS) and National Heritage Areas funding requests that need the support of tourism leaders.
The NPS Second Century Action Coalition letter in support of robust funding for the National Park Service has gotten a terrific response, particularly from tourism organizations. The sign on deadline has been extended to COB on Wednesday, April 30. If you would like to have your organization included on the letter, please send an email to Emily Douce at edouce@npca.org and let her know how you would like your organization to be listed.
I am attaching the current letter with the list of signers below.
For those who would like to be more active on NPS funding, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) circulated a Dear Colleague letter in the House of Representatives asking for signatures on a letter to Appropriations Committee leadership ask for strong funding for the NPS in FY26. The deadline for Members of Congress to sign in 5 pm on May 9.
Currently, there 49 signers: Barragán, Nanette • Beyer, Donald • Boyle, Brendan • Budzinski, Nikki • Carbajal, Salud • Clarke, Yvette • Connolly, Gerald • Costa, Jim • Crow, Jason • Davids, Sharice • Davis, Donald • DelBene, Suzan • DeSaulnier, Mark • Dingell, Debbie • Fitzpatrick, Brian • Fletcher, Lizzie • Hayes, Jahana • Huffman, Jared • Jayapal, Pramila • Khanna, Ro • King-Hinds, Kimberlyn • Krishnamoorthi, Raja • Larson, John • Matsui, Doris • McBath, Lucy • McClellan, Jennifer • McGarvey, Morgan • Moore, Gwen • Moulton, Seth • Nadler, Jerrold • Neguse, Joe • Panetta, Jimmy • Scanlon, Mary Gay • Schakowsky, Janice • Scott, David • Sewell, Terri • Sherrill, Mikie • Strickland, Marilyn • Thompson, Bennie • Tlaib, Rashida • Tonko, Paul • Vargas, Juan • Veasey, Marc • Velázquez, Nydia • Williams, Nikema • Wilson, Frederica
Rep. Fitzpatrick feels strongly that support for NPS is a bipartisan issue and reached out to this network as ask for our support in rounding up additional Republican Representatives to sign. I am attaching below the Dear Colleague as background if you would like to encourage your congressional delegation to sign.
FY26 Appropriations for the National Park Service (NPS)
Sending Office: Honorable Brian K. Fitzpatrick
Sent By: Samuel.Kessler@mail.house.gov
SUPPORT FY26 Appropriations for the National Park Service (NPS)
CLOSING MAY 9, 2025 @ 5:00 PM
Dear Colleague:
Please join us in our bipartisan letter in support of robust funding for the operation of the National Park Service in Fiscal Year 2025.
The National Park Service (NPS) serves an essential role connecting both Americans and international visitors to our exquisite environment, our national past, and each other. The NPS is responsible for safeguarding the irreplaceable magnificent natural wonders and significant historical and cultural resources of our nation. Strong support for robust funding for NPS operations in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 is crucial.
Thanks to previous investments made by the Appropriations Committee, the NPS is an important driver of economic activity for communities across our nation. In 2023, 325 million national park visitors spent more than $26 billion in local gateway regions, supporting 415,000 jobs and $55.6 billion in total economic output. Put simply, for every dollar Congress invests in the NPS, more than $15 in economic activity is generated for our economy.
Operating and maintaining the National Park System is an important responsibility for the federal government. The investments made in the operation and maintenance of national parks in FY26 would support visitor and volunteer programs, day-to-day maintenance and repairs, historic resource protection, visitor interpretation experiences, wildlife monitoring, recreation management and more.
If you would like to join, please sign on via Quill here. Contact Sam Kessler (Samuel.Kessler@mail.house.gov) or Matt Clarkin (Matthew.Clarkin@mail.house.gov) in Rep. Fitzpatrick's office with any questions.
Sincerely,
Brian K. Fitzpatrick Joe Neguse
Member of Congress Member of Congress
The Co-Chairs of the National Heritage Area Caucus continue to solicit signer for their FY 26 funding letter for the National Heritage Area Program. As of this morning they have 45 signers, including:
Ansari, Yassamin
Boyle, Brendan
Bresnahan, Robert
Budzinski, Nikki
Carson, Andre
Cleaver, Emanuel
Cohen, Steve
Connolly, Gerald
Courtney, Joe
Davids, Sharice
Davis, Danny
David, Donald
DelBene, Suzan
DeSaulnier, Mark
Dingell, Debbie
Fitzpatrick, Brian
Garamendi, John
Gottheimer, Josh
Graves, Sam
Hayes, Jahana
Houlahan, Chrissy
Hoyer, Steny
Jackson, Jonathan
Jayapal, Pramila
Kelly, Robin
Matsui, Doris
McGovern, James
Moulton, Seth
Neal, Richard
Pallone, Frank
Panetta, Jimmy
Riley, Josh
Scanlon, Mary Gay
Schrier, Kim
Smith, Adam
Smucker, Lloyd
Stefanik, Elise
Stevens, Haley
Thompson, Bennie
Thompson, Glenn “GT”
Tlaib, Rashida
Tonko, Paul
Trahan, Lori
Turner, Michael
Williams, Nikema
The letter will be held open through the end of this week, so there is still time to call on your congressional delegation.
Earlier today, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) distributed a letter to the Senate asking for signatures on a letter to the leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee calling for robust funding for the National Heritage Area Program. The letter is attached below. To sign on, Senate staff are asked to used this use this link. The deadline to join is Monday, May 19 (5/19) COB. For any questions, Senate staff should contact Sari Kaufman Sari_Kaufman@Blumenthal.Senate.gov and Ashley Law, Ashley_Law@blumenthal.senate.gov in Senator Blumenthal’s office.
Finally, kudos to Kentucky tourism, which has scored a Hallmark movie, Hats Off to Love on Saturday, May 3. Same day as the Kentucky Derby. For the purposes of the movie, it’s the Louisville Derby but the focus in on the fabulous hats and romance. Interestingly, the movie was filmed in Florida at the Tampa Bay Downs. Still a huge achievement to score a Hallmark movie. Details on the movie and where to watch can be found here. I think this is an excellent opportunity to enjoy a Mint Julep and a fun rom-com but it should be noted that Hallmark now sells its own line of wines. I bought several bottles a couple years ago because I thought it would make for fun gifts, and was surprised to discover it is actually not bad. Cheers!