blake
Life Member
This will be one to watch. Can you Nebraska members keep us up-dated pleased.
NEWS:
Nebraska Lawmakers Debate Right-to-Hunt Law
Hunters, trappers and anglers in Nebraska would have their sporting rights locked into the constitution under a proposed ballot question that lawmakers debated Thursday.
Omaha Sen. Pete Pirsch pitched his measure as a pre-emptive defense against any future attempts to limit hunting rights. Opponents said the amendment proposal was unnecessary and too frivolous for the state constitution.
The proposal, modeled after an Oklahoma law, would include Nebraska among 14 other states that have declared hunting and fishing a constitutional right.
"Since the founding of our state — and for that matter, for as long as humans have been here — hunting, fishing and harvesting wildlife have been fundamental freedoms that people have engaged in," Pirsch said. "These activities are critical to our state's economy."
His measure would place the question on the November 2012 general election ballot. The proposal would need majority support to pass, with the "yes" votes accounting for at least 35 percent of the total number of Nebraskans who cast a ballot. The amendment would allow law changes that promote wildlife conservation and management and preserve the future of hunting and fishing.
Pirsch said Nebraska faces "a clear and realistic reason for concern" given changing attitudes about hunting. He pointed to a 1990 California ballot measure that halted mountain lion hunting, which caused the population to explode, dove and pheasant hunting restrictions in several states, and a bear hunting ban in New Jersey.
Nebraska issued 164,000 fishing permits and 140,000 habitat stamps to hunt big and small game in 2010, according to the state Game and Parks Commission. Those anglers and hunters spend an estimated half-billion dollars annually in Nebraska.
Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill countered the proposal with a tongue-in-cheek amendment that would guarantee the right to swim, farm, ranch, drive, boat, golf, nap and watch Husker football.
"I don't think anyone in this body wants to get rid of hunting and fishing," McGill said. "Does this really rise to the level of needing a constitutional amendment?"
McGill said she introduced the amendment to embrace her "inner Ernie," a reference to former Omaha state Sen. Ernie Chambers, who became famous for his ability to derail bills with filibusters and headline-grabbing antics.
Chambers, who was term-limited out of office in 2009, had introduced a 2008 bill that would have banned all hunting, fishing and trapping in Nebraska. At the time, he said he introduced the measure to demonstrate that protection was unnecessary.
In 2004, when lawmakers tried to insert hunting rights into the constitution, Chambers responded with a proposal of his own: a measure that would guarantee constitutional rights to "hunt for Osama bin Laden," "hunt for the Holy Grail," and "hunt for a way to protect the constitution against frivolous amendments."
Lawmakers adjourned Thursday without voting on Pirsch's measure, but are scheduled to resume debate when they reconvene on Tuesday. Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh said the measure deserves serious attention.
It's not under assault here yet," he said. "But make sure you add the 'yet,' because it surely will come."
This post is for informational purposes only.
NEWS:
Nebraska Lawmakers Debate Right-to-Hunt Law
Hunters, trappers and anglers in Nebraska would have their sporting rights locked into the constitution under a proposed ballot question that lawmakers debated Thursday.
Omaha Sen. Pete Pirsch pitched his measure as a pre-emptive defense against any future attempts to limit hunting rights. Opponents said the amendment proposal was unnecessary and too frivolous for the state constitution.
The proposal, modeled after an Oklahoma law, would include Nebraska among 14 other states that have declared hunting and fishing a constitutional right.
"Since the founding of our state — and for that matter, for as long as humans have been here — hunting, fishing and harvesting wildlife have been fundamental freedoms that people have engaged in," Pirsch said. "These activities are critical to our state's economy."
His measure would place the question on the November 2012 general election ballot. The proposal would need majority support to pass, with the "yes" votes accounting for at least 35 percent of the total number of Nebraskans who cast a ballot. The amendment would allow law changes that promote wildlife conservation and management and preserve the future of hunting and fishing.
Pirsch said Nebraska faces "a clear and realistic reason for concern" given changing attitudes about hunting. He pointed to a 1990 California ballot measure that halted mountain lion hunting, which caused the population to explode, dove and pheasant hunting restrictions in several states, and a bear hunting ban in New Jersey.
Nebraska issued 164,000 fishing permits and 140,000 habitat stamps to hunt big and small game in 2010, according to the state Game and Parks Commission. Those anglers and hunters spend an estimated half-billion dollars annually in Nebraska.
Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill countered the proposal with a tongue-in-cheek amendment that would guarantee the right to swim, farm, ranch, drive, boat, golf, nap and watch Husker football.
"I don't think anyone in this body wants to get rid of hunting and fishing," McGill said. "Does this really rise to the level of needing a constitutional amendment?"
McGill said she introduced the amendment to embrace her "inner Ernie," a reference to former Omaha state Sen. Ernie Chambers, who became famous for his ability to derail bills with filibusters and headline-grabbing antics.
Chambers, who was term-limited out of office in 2009, had introduced a 2008 bill that would have banned all hunting, fishing and trapping in Nebraska. At the time, he said he introduced the measure to demonstrate that protection was unnecessary.
In 2004, when lawmakers tried to insert hunting rights into the constitution, Chambers responded with a proposal of his own: a measure that would guarantee constitutional rights to "hunt for Osama bin Laden," "hunt for the Holy Grail," and "hunt for a way to protect the constitution against frivolous amendments."
Lawmakers adjourned Thursday without voting on Pirsch's measure, but are scheduled to resume debate when they reconvene on Tuesday. Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh said the measure deserves serious attention.
It's not under assault here yet," he said. "But make sure you add the 'yet,' because it surely will come."
This post is for informational purposes only.