HOUSE REPUBLICAN STAFF ANALYSIS Bill: HF 631 formerly- HF 574/HSB 175 Committees: Ways & Means Natural Resources Floor Manager: Rep. Wills Date: April 22, 2017 Staff: Lew Olson (1-3096) House Natural Resources : House Ways & Means: House Floor: PASSED on Mar. 1 (21-0) PASSED on April 6 (22-0) PASSED on April 18 (92-6) Senate Ways & Means Com. DNR-NRC Hunt-Fish Administrative Rule Process License Fee Increases HF 631 proposes to change how hunting/fur-harvesting/fishing license fees and wildlife habitat fees are established by striking current Code provisions that explicitly set them to specific monetary amounts and replace the Code specification with authority for the Natural Resource Commission to establish the fee amounts through the administrative rules process with a year-long layover/delay for General Assembly nullification, amendment, or acceptance. o o This lay-over/automatic delay provides for an opportunity for the General Assembly to accept the proposed fee increases, amend them, or nullify them. So oversight and accountability for the fee increase still lies with the intent of the Legislature. DNR has indicated that it would seek a 17% license fee increase through the administrative rule process this summer to be effective 12-15-2017 that would generate an estimated $3.85- million increase in revenues for the 2018 hunting, fishing and fur-harvesting season with $2.75-million of increase fees being paid by resident Iowans, and $1.1-million being paid by nonresident hunters and fishers. Fiscal Note Since the EPC would in the future make the fee increase by rule, a fiscal note of reliability is difficult to construct. The DNR has emailed that it intended for calendar year 2018 to promulgate a rule this year to institute a 17% fee increase not applicable to habitat fees. Section-by-Section Division I Licenses and Fees Rules Section 1 Replacement of Hunt-Fur-Harvest-Fish-Conservation Privileges Fee Matrix with Natural Resource Commission Administrative Rule Process of Fee Establishment This section strikes the current Code section (483A.1) that has the matrix of various fishing, hunting, furharvesting and related conservation use fees for both resident and non-residents and replaces it with language giving the power to set and change such fee charges to the Natural Resource Commission (NRC) through the administrative rules process. The fees established by this process are to be periodically evaluated by the 1
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) not less than every three years to ensure fee paid are sufficient to meet the needs of natural resource management and maintain public access. By December 15th of each year after 12/15/2018, the DNR shall file a written report to the NRC, and the General Assembly concerning the evaluation and any recommendation on whether fee prices need to be changed to increase Fish and Game revenues. Any such fee increase recommended by the evaluation and subsequently proposed by the NRC shall not take effect until the following December 15 or later to give the General Assembly an opportunity to nullify, amend, or leave as is the fee changes proposed by administrative rule process. Additionally, such fee increases shall not exceed 5% in any calendar year. Section 2 Wild Life Habitat Fee Changes This section amends current Code section [483A.3) that deals with the requirement for resident and nonresidents who hunt or trap to in addition to purchasing a license to also pay the wildlife habitat fee which going forward will be established by the administrative rules process described in section 1 of this amendment/bill. Section 3 Strikes the Existing Explicit $11 Habitat Fee for Hunting and Fur Harvesting Specified in 483A.3.1c This section makes the establishment of habitat fee for hunting and fur-harvesting a function of the NRC via the administrative rule process specified in section 1 of this amendment/bill. Section 4 Use of Hunting/Fur Harvesting Habitat Fees for Payment of Property Taxes, Agreements with County Conservation Boards & Habitat Land Purchases This section amends existing code subsections dealing with the use of hunting/fur-harvesting wildlife habitat fee proceeds. This section specifies that if habitat revenues fund land acquisitions that have income generation, that such revenues will be used first for payment of levied property taxes on such property before habitat fee income is use for property tax payment purposes. This section also modifies the allocation of remaining hunting/fur-harvesting habitat fee revenue to reflect that future habitat fee amounts are likely to be changeable, and replaces existing allocation scheme with a new one that continues the not less than $3 allocation of habitat fee revenues to support game bird wetland conservation account ($2 of each $3) and game bird buffer strip assistance account ($1 of $3)as modified in section 7 of this amendment/bill. This section (4) further specifies that not less than 50% of habitat fees remaining after the transfer to 483A.3B.1 (section 7) purposes shall be use to enter into agreement with county conservation boards or other public agencies for habitat purposes where the agreements provide for and are funded by the wildlife habitat fee moneys do no exceeds 75% state share. Section 5 Use of Increased Habitat Revenue not to be Used by NRC for Land Acquisition; & Multi-Year Hunting Licenses Provisions This section add new restrictive language concerning the use of revenue enhancement/increases generated by hunting/fur-harvesting habitat fee enabled by this legislation shall not be used for land acquisition by the Natural Resource Commissions. This section also changes the ensuing Code section (483A.3.4) by replacing three-year with multi-year hunting license verbiage. Sections 6 and 9 Three Year Hunting Licenses Replaced by Multi-Year Licenses This section replaces existing Code language dealing with three-year hunting licenses with multi-year hunting licenses. With the replacement of pre-printed paper hunting licenses with dynamic electronically printed issued licenses, there is an opportunity to issue varying length of multi-year hunting licenses so the current Code specification of three year licenses is inflexible and unnecessarily restrictive. Section 7 Game Bird Wetland Conservation; Game Bird Buffer Strip Assistance Account Distribution of Hunting/Fur-Harvesting Wildlife Habitat Fee Revenue This section changes the hard $2 and $1 distribution of $3 portion of hunting/fur-harvesting habitat fee money to Game Bird Wetland Conservation and Game Bird Buffer Strip Assistance account purposes respectively to no less than $2 and no less than $1 distribution to allow for a larger distribution in the future following any wildlife habitat fee increase. 2
Section 8 Nonresident Five-Day Hunting Licenses This section creates a new Code section (483A.6B) which allows the NRC to provide for a five-day nonresident hunting license with fee and habitat fee to be established by the NRC through the administrative rules process. Division II Coordinating Provisions Sections 10 through 24 Insert Reference to New NRC Rules Process of Setting Conservation Hunt/Fur- Harvest/Fish Licenses and Wildlife Habitat Fees Into Existing Related Code Provisions Sections 10 and 11 add the reference to the new NRC rule process for establishing fee amounts for these licenses, habitat and conservation privileges in regards to existing county recorder authority to sell hunting/fur-harvesting/fishing and other conservation licenses. Section 12 adds a reference to the rule making process to a Code subsection dealing with hunting circumstances when totally blind person are allowed to be assisted when hunting. Section 13 adds the reference to Code provisions concerning when full-time students are considered residents for hunting license purposes because they attend an accredited educational institution in the state or if attending outside the state are under 25 and still reside with a parent or guardian who maintains a permanent residence in Iowa. Section 14 adds the references to Code provision concerning the provision of preference points for nonresident turkey hunting license applications. Section 15 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning the provision of preference point for nonresident deer hunting license applications. Section 16 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning the provision of additional antlerless deer licenses for both residents and nonresident hunter who have purchase antlerless deer licenses. Section 17 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning the provision of combined hunting and fishing licenses. Section 18 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning the provision of free land owner/farmer deer licenses. Section 19 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning the provision of special nonresident deer licenses available outside the quota for nonresident licenses for economic development and promotion activities. Section 20 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning the provision of special nonresident turkey licenses available outside the quota for nonresident licenses for economic development and promotion activities. Section 21 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning the provision of lifetime fishing, lifetime hunting, or lifetime combined hunting and fishing licenses for Iowa veterans who are disabled or were prisoners of war as a result of their active service. Section 22 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning third line fishing. Section 23 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning falconry licenses. Section 24 adds the reference to existing Code provisions concerning the schedule fines for violation of 483A.1 hunt/furharvest/fish licenses, habitat, and permits. Division III Transition Provisions and Effective Dates Section 25 Directs the NRC to Promulgate a Notice of Rule-Making to Increase Hunting/Fur-Harvesting/Fishing license and Habitat Fees by No-Later than July 14, 2017 with December 15, 2017 Effective Date of Such Rule Concerning Fees The DNR has indicated in its spread sheet that it will seek a 17% increase in existing hunt/fur-harvest/fish license fees that will generate an estimates fee revenue increase of ~$3.85-million in the calendar following the increase. Section 26 Effective Dates and Transitions Considerations This section specifies that divisions 1 and 2 of this bill (section 1through 24) are effective on December 15, 2017 and division III is effective upon enactment. This section also acknowledges that any license issued prior to December 15, 2017 are still valid after that date according to the terms and condition when issued. 3
Copied from excel -pdf sent by DNR on April 3, 2017. Amendment Analysis H 1354, by Heartsill, proposes to add a new Code subsection (483A.24) that would allow a person to fish on a private lake or pond not owned by them without a DNR fishing license if they have first obtained the consent of the pond owner. H 1354 was WITHDRAWN. H 1361, by Isenhart, proposes to modify H 1354 so that the exception to fishing license requirement created by H 1354 only applies to private ponds or lakes not stocked with DNR fishery sourced fish. H 1361 was OUT-OF-ORDER with withdrawal of H 1354. 4
H 1355, by Heartsill, proposes to change existing Code Subsections dealing with landowner/farm operator free turkey and deer licenses (483A.24.2.b-c) to allow the use of such licenses and tags on farm property during any hunting season and with bow or any allowable firearm. H 1355 was ADOPTED on a voice vote. 5