Visit Florida promotional photo of Siesta Key Beach.

The vibe in the Florida Capitol in the waning days of session feels both exciting and daunting. Pictures from horror movies counting down “Seven Days” to session’s end showed up in elevators. The time showed the near distance until the chaotic budget fights and policy debates draw to a close. But it also marked the frightening limit on time for lawmakers to complete their only constitutional obligation, passing a budget.

As the legislative session winds down this year, one of the great unanswered questions remains what will come of Visit Florida. For most of the 60-day session, House Speaker Jose Oliva has refused to consider authorizing the state’s de facto tourism agency to continue operations after October.

State Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, chairs the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee and stressed the agency was “critically important” for Florida.

“We still have a tourism-driven economy,” Gruters said. Because of that, he’s still pushing for full funding.

The senate has budgeted about $50 million for Visit Florida. That's less than Gov. Ron DeSantis included in his first budget since his election. He wanted $76 million.

But at least it’s something. The House has held to a position that the agency should get $19 million to operate through the end of the fiscal year, but then sunset entirely.

That comes after close to three years of battles about alleged wasteful spending. Oliva told reporters Friday he still has strong feelings the organization needs to disappear sooner rather than later.

However, Oliva offered a significant olive branch on Friday. Speaking to a gaggle of reporters on the House floor, he acknowledged Gov. DeSantis had asked for the agency to continue. Oliva said he doesn't want to fight the governor on this, and he will authorize Visit Florida to continue for one more year.

After that, the governor can “make an assessment of his own on how unnecessary it is.”

Well, that’s not exactly the ringing endorsement Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota, wanted. But it’s something.

“Definitely, the focus was on fact it wasn't being reauthorized,” said Haley. Now, Oliva seems ready to implement legislation as soon as this weekend that will keep the doors of the agency open until 2020.

But the Speaker’s comments were not “super encouraging,” to Haley, a board member for Visit Florida.

Oliva made clear he doesn’t want to deliver the agency its full funding, so that $50 million from the Senate may be as good as it gets. And that means getting lean.

“It’s going to mean some very tough choices,” said Haley. The board discusses marketing strategies in a few weeks, and the dollars must stretch as far as possible.

So Haley said the board will have to ask itself hard questions. “How is it that Visit Florida can bring the absolute best value to partners in the industry?” “What is it Visit Florida can do that nobody else can do?”

But where there’s an appropriation there’s a way. The one-year stay of execution means an opportunity to shine. Visit Florida has an opportunity to prove itself.

Of course, it’s mid-sized cities like Sarasota and Bradenton where partnerships with the state can prove especially valuable.

Maybe mega-corporations already sell the heck out of places like Miami, Oliva’s hometown. But it’s cooperation with the state that helps Sarasota get word out about world-class hospitality assets here.

Keep up traffic to markets like this and the numbers will continue to improve statewide.

So long as Visit Florida does a good job of keeping tourism thriving throughout the state, not just in the major tourist traps, it should be easy to make a case for reauthorization next year.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor for SRQ Media Group.

Visit Florida promotional photo of Siesta Key Beach.