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The Auburn City Council on Thursday approved a resolution urging Assemblyman John Lemondes to usher the bill through his chamber and Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the legislation.

Lemondes, R-LaFayette, and state Sen. Rachel May are sponsors of to move the Central New York Welcome Center to the Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn.

The state Senate passed the bill on March 18. The legislation received bipartisan support — it passed 57 to 4 — but there were questions about moving the welcome center, which is located at Destiny USA in Syracuse.

State Sen. Mark Walczyk, who opposed the bill, noted that Destiny USA draws 26 million visitors a year and is the largest mall in New York. He questioned why May, D-Syracuse, selected Auburn for the site and did not consult other counties in the region.

May explained that it's "an issue of righting a wrong in the city of Auburn." When former Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state would establish 10 welcome centers, Auburn was selected for the central New York location.

According to Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason, it was Destiny USA's ownership that encouraged the state to change course and place the welcome center at the mall. Despite that shift, the state followed through on its pledge to build a facility in Auburn. Instead of a welcome center, the Equal Rights Heritage Center was constructed and opened in 2018.

The main reason the city wants welcome center status for the Equal Rights Heritage Center is funding. The state covered the $10 million in construction costs for the project and provided initial funding for operational expenses. While the welcome centers receive annual funding in the state budget, Auburn's facility has not. The operation of the center has been the city's responsibility.

The 2024-25 state budget included $200,000 for the city. May's office told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV last year the funding was for the Equal Rights Heritage Center.

May acknowledged the Equal Rights Heritage Center doesn't draw as many people as Destiny USA. In 2024, the Auburn site had 14,648 visitors — the second-best attendance since 2019, its first full year of operation, and the most since the COVID-19 pandemic.

But May disputed whether Destiny USA's large crowds lead to high visitation at the welcome center on the mall's second floor.

"This is an opportunity to really bring a lot more foot traffic to a welcome center in the heart of a very historic region in central New York," she said during the March debate.

Although the state Senate passed the bill, it is awaiting action in the state Assembly. The legislation has been referred to the Assembly Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry Committee.

Mason told the City Council that, if approved, the central New York welcome center would be relocated after current contracts expire. The state has a four-year, $1.1 million contract with Visit Syracuse to operate the welcome center at Destiny USA. The contract will expire at the end of 2027.