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Minnesota Senate panel approves higher hunting, fishing license fees
(AP) — Anglers and hunters would pay higher license fees to avert potential deep cuts to the state's fish, game and conservation enforcement programs under a measure endorsed by a Minnesota Senate panel Tuesday.
The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee approved the proposal on a unanimous voice vote after leaders of several sportsmen's groups and former Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant testified that they're more than willing to accept the higher fees.
"This is the greatest bargain the state offers its citizens,'' Grant told lawmakers. He noted that a one-year resident adult fishing license now costs $17. The Senate proposal would raise it to $22. The 85-year-old Hall of Famer, who has long been active on fishing and hunting issues, called that "a small price to pay.''
The bill would give the Department of Natural Resources most of the increases it's seeking, but it would bring in about $3 million less in annual revenues than the agency's original proposal. It would raise most hunting license fees by amounts the DNR proposed, but it scaled back fee hikes for some popular resident fishing licenses. Youth license fees would be cut to encourage more young people to take up fishing and hunting.
DNR Deputy Commissioner Dave Schad said after the vote that his agency accepts the committee's bill and considers it a significant step forward. While he said there's strong public support for higher fees, he acknowledged his agency's proposed $7 increase for an individual angling license was higher than some lawmakers could accept. The bill would still solve the immediate threat of the state's Game and Fish Fund going into the red in 2013 and probably would keep it in the black for at least five years, he said.
The state has not raised resident fishing and hunting license fees since 2001, though it has bumped up certain fees for nonresidents. DNR officials say license revenues and federal aid have not kept pace with the increasing costs of running programs that seek to ensure plentiful supplies of fish and game and to enforce the state's outdoor regulations.
That's why more than 60 fishing, hunting and environmental groups in the state are backing higher fees. Leaders of several of those groups held a news conference before the hearing and then testified to express their support.
"The sportsmen are bringing this to us,'' the chairman of the committee, Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, told his panel. "... Folks, this is not a tax at all. If you don't fish or hunt you don't pay.''
Under the bill, a resident fishing license for a married couple would rise from $25 to $35. A resident deer license would increase from $26 to $30. Nonresident one-year adult licenses would rise from $39.50 to $44 for fishing and from $140 to $160 for deer hunting. A long list of other fees would rise by similar proportions.
The proposal now goes to its next Senate committee stop. While little if any public opposition has surfaced, prospects are uncertain in the House, which has yet to schedule action it. Although the GOP controls both chambers, there are deeper philosophical objections among some House Republicans to raising any revenues, regardless of whether they're billed as fee increases or tax hikes.
Minnesota DNR site in support of fee increases:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/heritage
(AP) — Anglers and hunters would pay higher license fees to avert potential deep cuts to the state's fish, game and conservation enforcement programs under a measure endorsed by a Minnesota Senate panel Tuesday.
The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee approved the proposal on a unanimous voice vote after leaders of several sportsmen's groups and former Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant testified that they're more than willing to accept the higher fees.
"This is the greatest bargain the state offers its citizens,'' Grant told lawmakers. He noted that a one-year resident adult fishing license now costs $17. The Senate proposal would raise it to $22. The 85-year-old Hall of Famer, who has long been active on fishing and hunting issues, called that "a small price to pay.''
The bill would give the Department of Natural Resources most of the increases it's seeking, but it would bring in about $3 million less in annual revenues than the agency's original proposal. It would raise most hunting license fees by amounts the DNR proposed, but it scaled back fee hikes for some popular resident fishing licenses. Youth license fees would be cut to encourage more young people to take up fishing and hunting.
DNR Deputy Commissioner Dave Schad said after the vote that his agency accepts the committee's bill and considers it a significant step forward. While he said there's strong public support for higher fees, he acknowledged his agency's proposed $7 increase for an individual angling license was higher than some lawmakers could accept. The bill would still solve the immediate threat of the state's Game and Fish Fund going into the red in 2013 and probably would keep it in the black for at least five years, he said.
The state has not raised resident fishing and hunting license fees since 2001, though it has bumped up certain fees for nonresidents. DNR officials say license revenues and federal aid have not kept pace with the increasing costs of running programs that seek to ensure plentiful supplies of fish and game and to enforce the state's outdoor regulations.
That's why more than 60 fishing, hunting and environmental groups in the state are backing higher fees. Leaders of several of those groups held a news conference before the hearing and then testified to express their support.
"The sportsmen are bringing this to us,'' the chairman of the committee, Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, told his panel. "... Folks, this is not a tax at all. If you don't fish or hunt you don't pay.''
Under the bill, a resident fishing license for a married couple would rise from $25 to $35. A resident deer license would increase from $26 to $30. Nonresident one-year adult licenses would rise from $39.50 to $44 for fishing and from $140 to $160 for deer hunting. A long list of other fees would rise by similar proportions.
The proposal now goes to its next Senate committee stop. While little if any public opposition has surfaced, prospects are uncertain in the House, which has yet to schedule action it. Although the GOP controls both chambers, there are deeper philosophical objections among some House Republicans to raising any revenues, regardless of whether they're billed as fee increases or tax hikes.
Minnesota DNR site in support of fee increases:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/heritage
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