BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1254| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ 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. CONTINUED AB 1254 Page 2 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. CONTINUED AB 1254 Page 3 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, CONTINUED AB 1254 Page 4 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 **** END **** CONTINUED