Substantial cuts to the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s funding, which the state agency says will put tourism and the jobs and programs that it supports at risk, are still on the table as the Legislature heads into conference.

HTA, the state agency responsible for marketing Hawaii to the world, receives $108.5 million in transient accommodations taxes from the Legislature each year with $26.5 million of it earmarked for the Hawai‘i Convention Center.

HTA also is allowed to spend up to $141 million to address a crisis or emergency. The Senate last week added a proviso to the state budget bill (House Bill 1900) that would reduce the cap from $141 million to $55 million, and also remove the agency’s procurement exemption with the exception of marketing and sports marketing contracts.

The proviso cut is even deeper than those proposed in House Bill 2010, which would reduce HTA’s convention center fund to $6 million and HTA’s tourism fund to $60.3 million — roughly the amount the agency currently spends on marketing. Under that bill, $59.5 million would be spread to other state agencies like the state Department of Land and Natural Resources that have a nexus to economic development and tourism.

HTA President and CEO George Szigeti said such deep cuts will hamper the agency’s marketing efforts, and would result in staff layoffs and cuts to more than 120 nonprofit programs supported by HTA.

“No organization can survive a 50 percent reduction in funding without having to make deep cuts to its entire operation. Everything that HTA does to support Hawaii’s tourism industry, including our global marketing efforts, our funding of product enrichment programs statewide, and our dedicated staff will suffer if this drastically reduced operating budget goes into effect,” Szigeti said.

During conference, state legislators will attempt to resolve differences in House and Senate versions of pending legislation. The House Tourism Committee would prefer to keep the HTA’s budget intact, and beef up funding for maintenance of the Hawai’i Convention Center, said Rep. Richard Onishi, committee chairman.

“I think the House supports the need to have a robust management plan for promoting tourism,” Onishi said. “The tourism industry is very fragile. Take Puerto Rico, if a natural disaster like that happened here, it could decimate the tourism industry.”

The Senate Ways and Means Committee has said it hopes to address accountability issues raised in a state audit of HTA and to protect Hawaii’s infrastructure and natural resources. The committee maintains that appropriating funds to programs with a nexus to economic development and tourism also benefits HTA by allowing it to concentrate on marketing.

“Tourism has grown significantly and HTA has taken a piecemeal approach to sustaining our environment, keeping tourists safe, developing tomorrow’s workforce, and preserving our culture. There is no comprehensive action plan,” Sen. Glenn Wakai, chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Tourism and Technology, said in a statement. “Allowing the HTA’s budget to remain status quo only condones the undisciplined spending pointed out by the audit.”

The Senate’s take has been popular with Hawaii residents who say the state should be mindful of allowing tourism beyond the capacity of Hawaii’s infrastructure and natural resources. Unchecked growth of vacation rentals has changed the fabric of Hawaii neighborhoods and increased housing costs, they say.

North Shore community advocate KC Connors said the number of tourists should be capped at 7 million per year and Hawaii should refocus on 21st-century jobs and industries.

“Expanding an economic structure that only benefits a few, and produces primarily more low-income service jobs and destroys the quality of life in Oahu with overcrowding is irresponsible and immoral,” Connors said. “The boom in illegal vacation rentals is causing Hawaii to become a third-class tourist destination.”

However, HTA supporters say Hawaii tourism, including visitor industry-related businesses and nonprofits and their employees, would suffer if the measures advance as written.

“The visitor industry and hospitality drives so much of our economy. To reduce HTA funding to what I feel would be an unfavorable level is cutting off our nose to spite our face,” said Kelly Hoen, area general manager of the Outrigger Waikiki and Outrigger Reef.

Hoen said effective tourism marketing should include festivals, events and cultural promotion, areas that the Senate measures would trim.

Sam Shenkus, vice president of marketing for the Royal Hawaiian Center, said the Senate proposals could have serious repercussions for the state’s tourism-dependent economy and for Hawaii’s visitor industry, which depends on HTA’s research and marketing expertise.

“This attitude that people are going to keep coming just because we are here is extremely short-sighted and ill-informed,” Shenkus said. “We’ve worked for years to get our current level of airline access. A lot of tourism infrastructure is already in Hawaii. If we don’t fill the hotels and the convention center, what’s the game plan?”

If the measure passes, Szigeti said staff layoffs would be inevitable. HTA also would have to reduce or eliminate support for programs like the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai‘i, the Junior Lifeguard Program, the ClimbHI LEI Program for high school students, and various festival events and nonprofits that support the environment and Hawaiian culture, he said.

“HTA makes up 90 percent of our budget, if they stopped funding us, it would be cause for great concern,” said Jessica Lani Rich, president and CEO of the Visitor Aloha Society, which assists 1,600 to 2,000 visitors in distress annually. “If something happens to visitors, we don’t want them to go home with a negative experience, which would impact tourism.”