BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1254|
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                              UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  AB 1254
          Author:   Tom Berryhill (R)
          Amended:  8/16/10 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 6/29/10
          AYES:  Pavley, Cogdill, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe,  
            Lowenthal, Padilla, Simitian, Wolk

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  72-1, 1/27/10 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Fish and Game Commission:  wildlife

           SOURCE  :     California Outdoor Heritage Alliance


           DIGEST  :    This bill changes an incentive for hunter  
          education instructor recruitment to a maximum of 15 hunting  
          tags, and authorizes the Department of Fish and Game (DFG)  
          to adopt regulations to implement new hunter education  
          recruitment provisions. 

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 8/16/10 restore existing law  
          prohibiting trespass while hunting, change proposed  
          incentives for hunter education instructor recruitment from  
          a minimum of two deer tags to a maximum of 15 deer tags,  
          and authorize DFG to adopt regulations to implement the  
          proposed new hunter education instructor recruitment  
          provisions.
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                                                               AB 1254
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           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law: 

          1. Makes it unlawful to enter any lands, including lands  
             temporarily inundated by waters, where signs forbidding  
             trespass are displayed, for the purpose of discharging  
             any firearm or taking or destroying any mammal or bird  
             without written permission from the landowner. 

          2. Makes it unlawful to take any mammal or bird or to  
             discharge any firearm on lands posted with "PRIVATE  
             PROPERTY NO HUNTING" signs meeting certain  
             specifications. 

          3. Requires the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) to hold no  
             fewer than 10 regular meetings per calendar year, no  
             more than two of which may be held in Sacramento. 

          4. Requires DFG to prescribe a minimum level of skill and  
             knowledge to be required of all hunter education  
             instructors, and may limit the number of students per  
             instructor in all required classes.

          5. Authorizes DFG to audit, or require the county to audit,  
             expenditures by the county from its fish and wildlife  
             propagation fund in order to determine compliance with  
             these requirements.  Under existing law half of all  
             fines and forfeitures imposed or collected in any court  
             of this state for violations of the Fish and Game Code  
             are deposited to the county in which the offense was  
             committed in a county fish and wildlife propagation fund  
             to be expended for the protection, conservation,  
             propagation, and preservation of fish and wildlife, in  
             accordance with specified requirements.

          This bill:

          1. Changes an incentive for hunter education instructor  
             recruitment to a maximum of 15 hunting tags, and  
             authorizes DFG to adopt regulations to implement new  
             hunter education recruitment provisions.


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          2. Authorizes the FGC to hold no fewer than 10 regular  
             meetings per year if it has adequate funding for travel,  
             including for DFG travel, with no more than three  
             regular meetings to be held in Sacramento. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/16/10)

          California Outdoor Heritage Alliance (source)
          California Sportsman's Lobby 
          Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California 


           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The California Outdoor Heritage  
          Alliance (COHA) is sponsoring this bill to (1) allow the  
          FGC to adjust its meeting schedule to address funding  
          shortfalls, (2) authorize DFG to issue hunting derby  
          permits to nonprofit organizations for fundraising  
          purposes, and (3) clarify Section 2016 of the Fish and Game  
          Code as it relates to nonnavigable waters.  With regard to  
          the hunting derby provision, COHA states this bill merely  
          applies the current permit process for fishing derbies to  
          hunting derbies, providing an additional fundraising tool  
          to nonprofits for wildlife conservation.  With regard to  
          the amendment to Section 2016, they note a former Attorney  
          General opinion concluded that section was unconstitutional  
          as applied to navigable waters. 


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill  
            Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,  
            Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles  
            Calderon, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La  
            Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Fletcher,  
            Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,  
            Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez,  
            Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu,  
            Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,  
            Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez,  
            Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner,  
            Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torres,  

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                                                               AB 1254
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            Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
          NOES:  Feuer
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Carter, Hall, V. Manuel Perez,  
            Torlakson, Bass


          CTW:mw  8/16/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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