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May 11 , 2006
Volume 4, Issue 18
State Caucus Update
South Carolina Votes to Create Sportsmen’s Caucus, the 29th to Work with NASC
Illinois Sportsmen’s Caucus Expands Youth Hunting & Holds Off Attacks in 2006
Sunshine State Sportsmen’s Caucus Passes Three NASC Legislative Initiatives
Iowa Caucus Ends Victorious Session for Sportsmen
Connecticut Legislators Resist Anti-Sportsmen’s Bills During Recent Session
New York Lawmakers Introduce Youth Hunting Legislation
Tennessee Lawmakers Promote Shooting Sports & Pass Hunting Regulation Bill
NASC Hosts Reception for Vermont Sportsmen’s Caucus
South Carolina Votes to Create Sportsmen’s Caucus, the 29th to Work with NASC
State legislators voted today to form the South Carolina Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, becoming the 29th in the NASC network of state sportsmen’s caucuses focused on promoting a pro-sportsmen’s agenda in the halls of state government. The Caucus serves as an identified group of allies willing to stand up for the rights of sportsmen when pertinent legislation is introduced. Members of this Caucus can be counted on to be proactive in protecting the outdoor heritage important to so many South Carolinians. With the Palmetto State’s diverse natural resources offering an abundance of recreational opportunity, the state has more than 1,000,000 hunters and anglers who spend over $1 billion annually pursuing outdoor activities. Having a recognized group of legislators who are focused on these issues is cause for South Carolina’s sportsmen and women to celebrate.
Illinois Sportsmen’s Caucus Expands Youth Hunting & Holds Off Attacks in 2006
Closing out their 2006 legislative session late last week, the Illinois Sportsmen’s Caucus worked to include budget priorities for Prairie State sportsmen. In this year’s budget, they led an effort to fund staffing needs at the World Shooting & Recreational Complex in Sparta, Illinois. The facility, when completed later this year, will feature 100 trap fields, two sporting clays courses, skeet fields, a cowboy action corral and a 3-D archery course available to sportsmen from around the world. Caucus members also included additional appropriations for open space programs in the state.
In addition, the Caucus banded together to stop an expansion of the state’s ban on certain semi-automatic rifles that would have affected sportsmen. NASC Executive Council Member and Caucus Co-Chair Representative Dan Reitz noted, “We were successful at defeating bans on so called “assault weapons” that would have had a direct negative impact on hunters.” He also worked with concerned sportsmen when the state failed to renew Firearms Owner Identification Cards on time. When hunters’ cards expired due to the inability for agency staff to process the renewals in a reasonable amount of time, they were at risk for arrest for possessing firearms without a valid FOID.
Members of the General Assembly also passed S.2334, a Caucus supported bill to tighten regulations on hunting with dogs. The bill makes it illegal to purposely hunt with dogs on private property without permission.
As reported previously in State Matters, members of the Illinois Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus introduced and passed HB 5407, an apprentice hunting license bill creating new opportunities for recruiting young hunters. The bill was sponsored by Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Mark Beaubien and Dan Reitz, along with Caucus member Representative Brandon Phelps. Specifically, the bill allows for a $7 one-time, non-renewable apprentice hunting license for youth ages 10-17 who are accompanied by a licensed parent, guardian, or grandparent or those 18 and over who are supervised by another legally licensed resident hunter.
“We are in jeopardy of losing a generation of new hunters. This bill gives parents and grandparents the opportunity to take their kids hunting so they can try it in the field first,” commented Rep. Reitz, who first learned of the apprentice hunting bill at the NASC Annual Sportsman-Legislator Summit last NovemberSunshine State Sportsmen’s Caucus Passes Three NASC Legislative Initiatives
Last week, the Florida Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus declared triumph in the 2006 session when the Legislature unanimously passed HB 265, a “No Net Loss” of public hunting land bill. The bill is written to ensure that state hunting lands stay at the same amount of acreage they are today into the future. Specifically, the bill requires the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to keep the land that it manages open to hunting and, to the extent practical, to prevent the net loss of public hunting areas. The National Rifle Association championed this legislation in Florida and was instrumental in generating support from many other sportsmen and conservation groups.
"This bill provides something that most laws can not. It provides a continuance of Florida traditions that early settlers and ancestors passed to us. If we lose opportunities to hunt game in Florida, we lose a sacred heritage. This House Bill 265, which was a culminated work effort from many wildlife and sportsmen organizations in Florida, will preserve to the public an opportunity to pass on our love for hunting to future generations forever,” Representative Don Brown.
Florida lawmakers also passed their version of a youth apprentice program, HB 471. The measure was introduced by Caucus Co-Chair and NASC Executive Council Member Representative Baxter Troutman and allows the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to let hunters defer the hunter safety course requirement for one year and be issued a restricted hunting license for use during a supervised hunt. Similar programs have been passed by sportsmen’s caucuses in Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania. This bill also changed violations for commercial harvesters in saltwater fisheries, increased hunting licenses fees and created a crossbow season hunting permit.
Earlier in the session, Caucus members led the effort to pass the sportsmen’s voter registration act allowing hunters and fishermen to register to vote when buying their licenses. The first so-called “Sportsmen Voter Act” passed in 2004 in Georgia and was adopted as NASC model legislation that same year at the NASC Sportsman-Legislator Summit.
Iowa Caucus Ends Victorious Session for Sportsmen
The Iowa General Assembly closed a long and productive session last week. As in years past, the members of the Iowa Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus worked hard and were successful in advancing the sportsmen’s agenda in Des Moines.
In a move to ease concerns over urban deer population control hunts, H.2546 is heading to the governor for consideration. The bill will limit liability to private landowners should any incidents occur on their property during an urban deer hunt. The governor is also reviewing H.244, a bill that lowers fees for a veteran’s lifetime hunting and fishing license from $30 to $5.
Earlier this session, Governor Thomas Vilsack signed two bills to expand fishing and hunting opportunities for the elderly and teens. HB 2171 allows residents of elder group homes and assisted living facilities to fish without individual licenses during supervised trips with the group. In a similar fashion, HB 2611 makes it easier to introduce high school students to angling by allowing teenage students taking part in Department of Natural Resources programs to fish without a license as part of a school program. The governor also signed H.590 that allows residents over the age of seventy to hunt with a crossbow during bow season.
Despite the numerous victories for sportsmen, one bill S.47 introduced by Caucus Co-Chair Senator Dick Dearden that would have increased the habitat stamp and lead to greater matching funds from the federal government failed to pass the house, but will be pursued again in 2007.
Connecticut Legislators Resist Anti-Sportsmen’s Bills During Recent Session
Lawmakers in Connecticut faced several challenges against sportsmen’s rights during 2006. S.605, a limited Sunday hunting bill, passed the Assembly, but failed to garner support in the Senate. The state Department of Natural Resources, Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, local sportsmen’s groups, National Rifle Association and the outdoor industry worked together to implement and strengthen Sunday hunting opportunities in the Constitution State and will no doubt reunite to continue the battle next year. As we reported previously, an Associated Press article highlighted the scramble by anti-hunting groups such as the Humane Society of the United States to oppose the bill. HSUS representative Linda Huebner was quoted as saying, “[the bill] never made this much progress before so we’re putting a lot of energy into fighting it.”
Legislators helped to kill S.105, which would have required all gun owners to notify the police within a limited time of any stolen firearms or face liability should one of the stolen objects be used by a criminal. The bill had many responsible gun owners concerned about being held responsible for the criminal actions of a third party.
New York Lawmakers Introduce Youth Hunting Legislation
Legislators in New York introduced two youth hunting measures last week. AB 11018 will create a youth mentored hunting program allowing anyone under 18 to purchase a youth license that would allow them to hunt big or small game when accompanied by a certified mentor involved in the program. Another proposal under AB 11015 would create a junior big game hunting license allowing 14- to 16-year-olds to harvest wild deer and bear. Both bills now sit with the Committee on Environmental Conservation.
Tennessee Lawmakers Promote Shooting Sports & Pass Hunting Regulation Bill
Volunteer State legislators have the opportunity to promote the shooting sports for youth under SR 121, introduced last week. The resolution encourages the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association to sanction trap and skeet shooting as a competitive sport on the high school level.
he Tennessee General Assembly passed another pro-sportsmen bill introduced by Caucus Co-Chair Joe McCord. HB 3552, which will allow any person to hunt or take deer, bear, wild elk or wild boar with any shotgun using ammunition loaded with more than one solid ball, with any rifle using rim-fire cartridges, or with a rifle loaded with center-fire ammunition of less than .24 caliber, was signed by the governor. All of the above were previously against the law.
NASC Hosts Reception for Vermont Sportsmen’s Caucus
More than a dozen members of the Vermont Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus met with the NASC and local sportsmen’s groups on Friday after electing new leadership and to begin focusing on ways the caucus can advance a pro-sportsmen’s agenda. The 27th Caucus to join with NASC has been off to a running start with passage of a shooting range protection measure introduced by Caucus members Senators Vincent Illuzzi and Peter Welch. Before the event, Senators George Cooppenrath and Don Collins were elected as the new Senate leadership of the Caucus. Representatives Steven Adams and Gail Fallar serve as House Caucus Co-Chairs.
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