BILL ANALYSIS SB 1179 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 15, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE Jared William Huffman, Chair SB 1179 (Hollingsworth) - As Amended: June 21, 2010 SENATE VOTE : 28-6 SUBJECT : Free Hunt Days SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to designate two free hunt days per year. Specifically, this bill : 1)Requires the director of DFG to designate 2 free hunt days per year, one during the Fall hunt season and one during the winter. Requires DFG to publish the dates of the free hunt days. 2)Authorizes a California resident who has never previously held a California state hunting license to hunt during a free hunt day if accompanied by a licensed hunter who meets certain requirements, and the unlicensed hunter stays in close visual and verbal contact with the licensed hunter at all times. Requires that the licensed hunter accompanying the unlicensed hunter be at least 18 years old and licensed to hunt for the last 3 consecutive years. 3)Provides that the unlicensed hunter would be subject to all of the limitations, restrictions, conditions, statutes, rules and regulations applicable to licensed hunters, except the requirement to possess a valid hunting license. 4)Authorizes DFG to require an unlicensed hunter to demonstrate the safe operation of the firearm prior to being authorized to hunt on a free hunt day. Persons authorized to evaluate whether the person has demonstrated safe operation of the firearm include any person who has held a hunting license for the last 3 years, a licensed firearms dealer or dealer's employee, or a hunter education instructor. Authorizes DFG to prohibit unlicensed hunters from taking species that require a draw or lottery to obtain a tag or require a federal stamp. 5)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding the contributions of hunters and fishermen and the fact that the state allows for 2 free fishing days, and states legislative SB 1179 Page 2 intent to similarly allow for 2 free hunting days. 6)Requires an unlicensed hunter to complete an online hunter safety course. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires possession of a hunting license to take birds or mammals in California. Provides for issuance of hunting licenses to residents and nonresidents upon payment of specified fees. 2)Requires completion of a hunting education course as a condition of obtaining a hunting license. Hunter education courses are a minimum of 10 hours and cover firearm safety and handling, sportsmanship and ethics, wildlife management and conservation, archery, black powder, wildlife identification, game care, first aid, and survival. 3)Requires possession of a fishing license to take fish. Authorizes DFG to designate 2 free fishing days per year. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis, increased enforcement costs to DFG of up to $130,000 per year, and reduced license and tag fee revenue of likely more than $180,000 per year. COMMENTS : This bill requires DFG to designate 2 free hunt days per year, during which any California resident who has not previously been licensed to hunt in California could hunt without a hunting license for free. Unlicensed hunters would be required to be accompanied by a licensed hunter who is at least 18 years of age, but there would be no minimum age limit for the unlicensed hunter. This bill is also silent as to how many unlicensed hunters one licensed hunter would be authorized to supervise at a time, thereby presumably allowing one person to supervise multiple unlicensed persons at one time. This bill would allow persons to hunt two days a year without first completing and passing the standard DFG approved hunter education course which is otherwise required to obtain a hunting license, though the June 21st amendments would require that the person take a shorter online course. Currently, the hunter education course requirement serves as a quasi-age limit for hunters, since very young children are not generally capable of SB 1179 Page 3 completing the course. The course includes both an online and an in-person component. According to DFG's website, hunting accidents of all types have declined substantially with the hunter education course requirement. Although this bill allows DFG to require an unlicensed hunter to demonstrate the safe operation of the firearm they intend to use prior to being authorized to hunt on a free hunt day, any licensed hunter who has been licensed for the last three years, or any licensed firearms dealer or employee, would be authorized to evaluate whether the unlicensed person has demonstrated safe operation of the firearm, and to provide an affidavit to DFG to that effect. This bill would also allow one licensed person to supervise multiple younger unlicensed hunters on the 2 free hunt days. Currently, DFG on its junior hunt days requires one hunting-licensed adult chaperone for every 2 youth, and also requires young people participating in the junior hunt days for the first time to complete a hunter education course. Even with these adult to child ratio requirements, and the requirement for the hunter education course, accidents have occurred on junior hunt days. In 2006, an 11 year old boy lost his left eye and had to undergo 12 hours of surgery when another boy accidentally shot him on a state-organized junior pheasant hunt north of Sacramento. That case ultimately resulted in a judgment of substantial liability against the state. According to DFG at that time, an average of 20 hunting accidents occur in California yearly with 2 fatalities. Hunter education courses also cover more than just safe operation of firearms, and also include education on wildlife management and conservation, sportsmanship and ethics, and other related topics. The Legislature enacted hunting education requirements in order to ensure the health and safety of hunters and to reflect the Legislature's intent that hunters be aware of their responsibilities to others, towards wildlife, and toward their natural environment. In light of this intent, the committee may wish to consider whether this bill contains appropriate safeguards to warrant exempting unlicensed hunters from the requirement to complete and pass the full hunter education course. Under this bill, persons who are interested in only hunting one or two times per year could elect to just hunt on the two free hunt days each year and never obtain a hunting license. To the SB 1179 Page 4 extent persons who would otherwise be required to obtain a hunting license elect not to, this bill could result in a reduction of hunting license fee revenue to DFG. DFG's related enforcement costs, however, would increase. DFG would likely face additional enforcement challenges in the field were this bill to become law. Currently, at least until DFG's Automated License Data System (ALDS) is fully operational, DFG has no way of tracking whether someone has previously held a hunting license and would be eligible to hunt for free, and no way of tracking whether a proposed supervising hunter has been continually licensed for the prior three years and therefore meets the eligibility criteria to be a supervisor. Amendments adopted in the Senate changed the bill from a mandate to an authorization for DFG to allow 2 free hunt days, and also authorized DFG to adopt additional minimum requirements by regulation. The June 21st author's amendments strike these Senate amendments and return the bill to a mandate, and also strike the authority for DFG to adopt additional minimum requirements through regulation. By comparison, the authorization for free fishing days is permissive rather than mandatory on DFG. Arguments in Support : Supporters assert that this bill provides parity with fishing since DFG is already authorized to designate 2 free fishing days per year. They also contend that by allowing persons who have never hunted before to try it out before purchasing a license, this bill could introduce new hunters to the sport who may then elect to purchase licenses in the future. The author also cites statistics from the National Shooting Sports Foundation indicating that accidental firearms fatalities are at an all time low, the injury rate of hunting compared to other types of recreation, and the impact of the firearms industry on California's economy. Arguments in Opposition : DFG opposes this bill unless amended. They note this bill as currently drafted could expose the state to liability by not fully addressing hunter education requirements, including lax requirements for the supervising hunter, additional requirements applicable to take of certain species such as duck and upland game, and the lack of an effective tracking system to prevent abuse. DFG indicates that at a minimum a licensed hunter should be allowed to accompany only one unlicensed hunter in the field at a time, and the SB 1179 Page 5 unlicensed hunter should be required to possess a certificate of completion of a hunter education class. They further note the firearms certification component is in direct violation with existing statute. Policy Issues : The policy questions for the committee to consider include: Should children or adults who do not possess a hunting license, and have not completed and passed a full hunter education course, be allowed to hunt without a hunting license on two days per year, as designated by DFG? Should the minimum age for licensed supervisors be greater than 18 years of age? Should there be a limit on the number of unlicensed persons one person can be responsible for supervising at a time? Should persons authorized to supervise unlicensed hunters be subject to background checks for prior violations, and be required themselves to have recently completed a hunter education course? Does the potential benefit of introducing more people to the sport of hunting outweigh the increased enforcement obligations and potential public safety issues this bill could create? If the committee elects to approve this bill, the committee may want to consider the following amendments: 1) Clarify that completion and passage of the complete state approved hunter education course is a required prerequisite for any person to be eligible to hunt on a free hunt day. 2) Require that persons desiring to participate in free hunt days, and to supervise unlicensed hunters, register with the department. 3) Require supervisors of unlicensed hunters to be at least 25 years of age. 4) Require that a supervisor only be authorized to supervise one unlicensed hunter at a time. 5) Postpone authorization for free hunt days until DFG's ALDS is fully operational. 6) Authorize rather than require DFG to establish 2 free hunt days, and authorize DFG to adopt additional minimum requirements or restrictions applicable to free hunt days. SB 1179 Page 6 REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California Association of Firearms Retailers California Sportsman's Lobby, Inc. National Rifle Association of America National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California Safari Club International Sierra Club 2 individuals Opposition Department of Fish and Game (unless amended) Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916) 319-2096