Porter’s bills are becoming laws without him

By Lisa Mascaro

Thursday, June 18, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Republican Jon Porter is having a great legislative year. Only problem is, he’s no longer in Congress.

The president has signed into law a sweeping public lands bill that includes provisions championed by Porter last year, before he lost reelection.

Porter’s successor, Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, stood with President Barack Obama at the White House as the lands bill was being signed.

And a tourism bill that Porter co-sponsored as a leader of the House Travel and Tourism Caucus last year has jumped the queue in the Senate and appears headed toward passage this session.

The legislation, beneficial for Nevada and other tourism-heavy states, would create a government agency to promote the United States abroad — funded by a $10 fee on visitors entering the country.

Tourism has declined since 9/11, with about a half-million fewer travelers per year visiting the United States from overseas. “If you want overseas visitors to come and spend $4,500 per person per visit, you have to send them an invitation,” said Geoff Freeman, a senior vice president at the U.S. Travel Association, an industry lobby.

The route the legislation has taken is a reminder that content does not make a bill. Success also requires status, timing and a little bit of luck.

Porter’s tourism bill gained headway as the industry drew supporters from both sides of the aisle, and passed the House in September.

But the legislation stalled in the Senate much the same way the lands bill stalled last year — held hostage by one conservative Republican senator who says he opposes excessive government spending.

In the new Congress, the tourism bill was introduced jointly by Nevada’s senators, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican John Ensign. But Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., still opposes it, calling the creation of a new tourism agency when similar government entities exist “stupidity.” But he could do little to block it this year in the face of overwhelming Senate support to move it forward.

With a lull in the Senate calendar as lawmakers hammer out heftier energy and health care legislation, Reid shoehorned the tourism bill into the schedule this week.

The bill passed a procedural hurdle this week on a vote of 90-3.

“Bipartisan support for this bill has been there for some time,” Freeman said. “That said, Sen. Reid’s leadership on this bill is critical.”

Reid, along with Ensign, had always supported the bill. But as the Las Vegas economy has deteriorated in the recession, the bill really hit home.

The majority leader testified on behalf of the bill at a recent committee hearing, drawing chuckles for his money line: “Nevada is open for business.”

It helped that several members of the Obama administration, including the president himself, supported the bill when they were lawmakers in the previous session of Congress.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was an original co-sponsor with Porter, as was Vice President Joe Biden. Even Cabinet secretaries, including Ray LaHood at Transportation and Hilda Solis at Labor, were supporters.

The Bush administration had signaled its opposition to the bill.

“Today’s economic situation makes this legislation all the more necessary,” Freeman said. “What you’re seeing on the floor of the Senate this week is a growing appreciation of tourism as an economic tool.”

And so legislation that was once a signature issue for Porter may end up headed to the White House with hardly a hint of his handiwork.

The House is expected to take it up later this year, if it makes it out of the Senate next week.

“Congressman Jon Porter did his job,” Freeman said. “He was a staunch proponent of travel promotion. With his help this got out of the House last year.”

This time, it is on its way without him.