Sen. Kane Calls For Doing Right Thing For Sportsmen Who Paid More For State Licenses

April 26, 2010

Senator Rob Kane (R-32) is calling for legislation that would require the state Department of Environmental Protection to issue credits to those who bought their state hunting and fishing licenses before the General Assembly voted recently to lower the prices.

“I am very much in favor of dropping these prices, but I don’t think it is fair to penalize everyone who already paid more for their fishing and hunting licenses this year. That is why I, and other Republican Senators, want to pass legislation that would require the state Department of Environmental Protection to apply the difference in cost when the people who purchased the more expensive licenses this year buy their licenses next year,” said Senator Kane.

The General Assembly voted to cut the costs of hunting and fishing license fees as part of its recently adopted budget deficit mitigation plan. These fees are among those that were raised by the General Assembly last year in an effort to balance the state budget. Senator Kane voted against the state budget that included the license fee increases.

“I heard from many sportsmen who said that the General Assembly’s decision to raise the costs of hunting and fishing fees made these activities unaffordable for a lot of people. I agree. Voting to lower the costs of these licenses as part of our deficit mitigation plan was the right thing to do. But, it simply is not right to expect those who already bought their licenses to have to pay more. Our proposed legislation is intended to correct the situation,” said Senator Kane.

Senator Kane said he expects Republican Senators to call for a vote on their proposal before legislative session ends on May 5th.