Politicians from Nevada and Florida expressed outrage Thursday at a report that some federal agencies have put the two tourist hotspots in the states on a "blacklist" when deciding where to hold conferences or meetings.
A Wall Street Journal article published Wednesday cited e-mails from the FBI and Department of Agriculture encouraging conference locations that aren't resort destinations and don't appear to be "lavish."
The issue quickly turned political.
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, a Republican, said Thursday that the Obama administration "seemed to be completely unaware of the damage they are causing" by such policies. U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada countered that President Obama was reversing such policies that began during the Bush administration.
Gibbons called the reported blacklist "an outrageous insult to the working families in Nevada" and urged the state's congressional delegation to press President Barack Obama for a change.
"I am working hard to get more jobs and more tourists for Nevada to help our economy recover, and the Obama administration seems to be completely unaware of the damage they are causing to Nevada's economy and the people here," Gibbons said in a statement.
Gibbons said the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported hundreds of conventions and business meetings scheduled for the gambling mecca have canceled in the last several months, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
The exact nature of the policies in the various federal agencies was not clear.
Reid inquired about the issue to the White House last month, claiming agencies including the FBI, General Services Agency and Bureau of Indian Affairs had canceled recent Las Vegas meetings.
He then received a letter from a top aide to the president saying there's no "informal federal policy" against government meetings and conferences in Las Vegas. The letter from chief of staff Rahm Emanuel says value, not location, should be the basis for booking a trip.
Reid on Thursday also pointed to federal agency memos dating to 2006 that required special approval for meetings in gambling or resort locations, saying, "The restrictions initiated by the Bush administration are damaging to places like Las Vegas and Reno and I applaud President Obama's decision to reverse this policy."
The Journal said it learned from an Agriculture Depart-ment staffer familiar with that agency's guidelines on conferences that staffers are encouraged to hold meetings in cities that are lower-cost, "non-resort" travel hubs. The newspaper also quoted a Depart-
ment of Justice spokeswoman as confirming there's agency "guidance" to avoid conference locations "that give the appearance of being lavish or are resort destinations."
The Journal said cities on the lower-cost list included Chicago, Denver, Portland, Ore., St. Louis, Washington, Milwaukee, Phoenix and Fort Collins, Colo.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., planned to introduce legislation blocking federal agencies from making travel policies that blacklist U.S. cities. Orlando, home to Walt Disney World, is reportedly on the list of cities to avoid.
Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Fla., said Thursday that she and a bipartisan group of lawmakers from Florida and Nevada would urge the Government Accountability Office to investigate the reports that cities such as Las Vegas and Orlando with "high-value accommodations" have been blacklisted.
"We need to make sure taxpayer dollars are protected, and eliminating destinations for federal conferences based on anything other than cost effectiveness is a recipe for waste," she said.