Results mixed for impact of Ariz. boycotts

PHOENIX A new report by the Center for American Progress showed that the boycotts cost the state more than $140 million.

The study showed that the hotel industry lost $45 million and that visitors who stayed away would have spent another $96 million.

It also said that canceled meetings and conferences could cost the state jobs and money over the next two to three years.

But a review by the Associated Press showed that more people visited the Grand Canyon this summer than last year and more stayed in Arizona hotels and resorts.

Cities that called for boycotts, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, largely found that they couldn't cancel contracts or avoid trips to Arizona.

A spokesperson for San Francisco's mayor said that only a few city workers' travels were changed and some contracts with Arizona companies were allowed to continue for economical reasons.

Republican /*Gov. Jan Brewer*/ signed the controversial law in April. The law, which includes a section that would require police to check immigration status, is being challenged in court.

The federal government has won an injunction blocking the controversial provisions and Arizona is awaiting a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on its appeal.

Civil rights groups organized similar boycotts to slow Arizona's economy 20 years ago when the state refused to honor the /*Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.*/ with a holiday.

The Associated Press Contributed to this report.

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