The following is from Mack Martin, our TU National Leadership
Council Rep.
I
had a brief discussion regarding the plight of the hunting & fishing
license fee increase bill (HB872) at the last chapter meeting.
I
asked the members of the chapter to contact the DNR commissioner (Mark
Williams) and express their concern for the fact that the bill was pulled from
consideration following the House committee meeting on February 9, 2016.
Moreover, after months of meetings and discussions with hunters and fishermen
throughout Georgia and the overwhelming support for the increase in license
fees, no explanation has been given for this action on the part of DNR. A
number of chapter members asked for the details of the timeline for
the bill and contact information for Mark Williams, DNR
Commissioner.
So
here they are:
HB
872 (Game and fish; boat registration fees and allow additional methods
for reporting the sale of boats) was introduced on Jan. 28, 2016 by
the following sponsors:
Chad
Nimmer (R) Dist 178 - Originator
David
Knight(R) Dist 130
Terry
England (R) Dist 116
Jason
Shaw (R) Dist 176
Al
Williams (D) Dist 168
Terry
Rhodes (R) Dist 120
After
the bill was introduced there were two meetings of the House Game, Fish and
Parks committee where various organizations testified favorably for the
passage of this bill (Trout Unlimited included). The last individual
to testify in the second meeting was Mike Worley, Georgia Wildlife
Federation CEO, and he stressed that income from this bill would result in
approximately 10 million dollars in increased revenue and the sportsmen in
Georgia would like to know where this money will be spent. The following day
the bill was withdrawn by DNR with no explanation.
Prior
to the introduction of HB 872, the House GP&P passed a bill, HB
483 introduced by Rep. Debbie Buckner (D-137), making the Shoal Bass the
"Official Native Riverine Sportfish" and it passed the full House,
this bill was a carryover from the 2015 legislative session. HB
483 was assigned to the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee
(NR&E). Approximately a week after HB 872 was withdrawn,
Rep. Buckner's bill was called for a hearing in the Senate committee.
This was a very unusual occurrence for a House Bill, sponsored by a Democrat,
to be called for a hearing before crossover day. Prior to the hearing,
Rep. Buckner was approached to see if she objected to having a "fishing
license fee" amendment attached to HB 483. A hearing was held
and the bill was discussed, but no vote was taken.
Ultimately
the plan was to pass HB 483 in the Senate and ask the House to
"agree" to the Senate version and if they did so the bill would be
sent to the Governor for his signature. If the House insisted on their
position (the original bill) there would likely be a conference committee
appointed to try and work out the differences. On March 15, 2016 the SNR&E
committee voted the HB 483 out of committee with no amendments.
This essentially ended the possibility of securing additional funding for
wildlife and fisheries management for this legislative session.
There
are opinions as to what happened to this bill (HB872) but
no official explanation has been given by anyone from
DNR regarding what happened to the bill. Mark Williams told some
members of the Georgia Water Coalition team: "That the DNR did not want to
push fees because it's an election year." This group believes
that there were fears over any maneuver to require of how fees were to be
actually allocated and used.
You
can draw your own conclusion as to what went on internally in the DNR
management, but in the meantime I think sportsmen in Georgia are due
an explanation of why was a major funding bill pulled
from consideration after so much discussion took place between
conservation groups, Georgia Wildlife Federation, and sportsman all
over Georgia.
You
are urged to contact the DRN commissioner as a concerned sportsman and ask for
a LOGICAL explanation. ("It's an election year is not a
reason").
The
contact information for Mark Williams is as follows:
2
Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
Suite
152- East tower
Atlanta,
GA 30334
Phone
404-656-3500
