Dardenne asks budget officials to spread Super Bowl costs

Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne says his office should not be singled out to pay the state’s entire $6 million cost of promoting Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans next February, The Times-Picayune reports. “It should be a shared responsibility,” Dardenne says, split between the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism—which he oversees—the state Department of Economic Development and the state general fund. When the proposed executive budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year is released this week, Dardenne expects it to show that $6 million of the $23 million his office gets from a .03% state tax for tourism promotion will be earmarked for Super Bowl promotions—in keeping with a commitment made to bring the event to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome next year. Dardenne says he’s asked budget officials to spread around the cost but has not been told if they will. The final decision regarding who pays how much will be made by the Legislature after its annual lawmaking session opens March 12. Read the full story here.