House Bill 727

AN ACT TO RECOGNIZE THAT A SIGNIFICANT ASPECT OF MISSISSIPPI'S HERITAGE, HISTORY AND CULTURE IS THE EFFECT OF HURRICANE KATRINA ON THE STATE; TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE DIVISION OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TO ESTABLISH A STATEWIDE MISSISSIPPI HURRICANE KATRINA TRAIL INFRASTRUCTURE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The Legislature recognizes that a significant aspect of Mississippi's heritage, history and culture is the state's weathering of various natural disasters and hurricanes throughout its history, due to the location of the Mississippi Coast on the Gulf of Mexico. Of particular note is Hurricane Katrina, which left its mark on Mississippi on August 29, 2005, and is known as the worst natural disaster in the state's history. Hurricane Katrina caused extensive and prolonged damage to our state's infrastructure and to the civil, social, economic and environmental well-being of Mississippi. A loss of this magnitude and the subsequent and ongoing recovery from the short-term and long-term effects of the storm is an opportunity to demonstrate Mississippi's heritage as a state of resilient citizens who bring out the best in their fellow citizens, as shown by the assistance that this storm's victims received from other victims and from empathetic and supportive individuals and organizations throughout the world. Bringing national and international attention to the communities that Hurricane Katrina devastated, including their recovery since the storm, can be of great economic and cultural importance to the state by attracting interested visitors from around the world, as well as promoting the education and social development of our state's citizens.

SECTION 2. The Division of Tourism Development of the Mississippi Development Authority is authorized and directed to do the following:

(a) To develop a marketing plan designed to attract tourists, conferences, music and theatrical performances, filmmakers and others for the purpose of the economic development of all geographic areas of the state through the depiction of Mississippi's devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, and the state's responding recovery from the storm.

(b) To make an inventory of assets that depict the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina's devastation and the resilient will of its citizens to recover from the storm, with an emphasis on individual Mississippians who contributed to that recovery and on the supportive individuals and organizations throughout the world who assisted Mississippi during its time of need.

(c) To establish a statewide Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Trail infrastructure to offer tourists and targeted audiences a structured tour of Mississippi sites and venues related to the storm's damage and to the state's recovery from that damage.

(d) To designate specific sites for the erection of the appropriate Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Trail markers for the sites and venues related to the storm's damage and to the state's recovery from that damage. The division is authorized to approve the texts for the markers and to purchase appropriate markers from any available funds. The Mississippi Department of Transportation shall cooperate with the division by erecting and maintaining the markers that have been approved by the division.

(e) To coordinate the Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Trail program with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Educational Television Authority, and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, and similar organizations to share resources and information in order to ensure a comprehensive approach to marketing the story of Mississippi's devastation and recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

(f) To coordinate the Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Trail marketing plan with any existing state historic preservation program, in order to identify and preserve civil rights historic properties, and determine the eligibility of those properties for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and prepare nominations of those sites.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.