BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1786
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1786 (Mansour) - As Amended: April 26, 2012
Policy Committee: Water, Parks and
Wildlife Vote: 13-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to
issue annual fishing licenses for a period of 12-months from the
date of purchase, instead of the period of one calendar year,
January to December, regardless of date of purchase, per current
law.
FISCAL EFFECT
Costs to DFG of an unknown amount, potentially in excess of
$100,000, to make programming changes to its Automated Licensing
Data System (ALDS), which is in its final stages of
implementation (Fish and Game Preservation Fund). DFG notes
that changes to ALDS that would be required as a result of this
bill are beyond the scope of work agreed to by the department
and the vendor, and so would be particularly costly. DFG
reports that its contract with the vendor will expire in 2015,
at which point ALDS changes likely will be cheaper to implement.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author intends this bill to allow anglers to
maximize the value of the fishing licenses they purchase. The
author describes the existing fishing license system as
inflexible and failing to cater to anglers' needs.
2)Background. Current law allows California residents and
nonresidents 16 years or older to purchase a sport fishing
license valid January 1 to December 31, regardless of date of
purchase. In exchange for the license, the angler is charged
AB 1786
Page 2
an annual fee, set, for residents, at a base of $31.25 in 2004
and adjusted annually for inflation. Statute does not
authorize DFG to adjust the fee to reflect the purchase date
of the fishing license. As a result, a license purchased on
January 1 of a given calendar year costs the same as a license
purchased on December 1 of the same calendar year, even though
both licenses expire on January 1 of the following calendar
year.
Currently, DFG is updating its licensing system, to be known
as ALDS, an automated, online electronic database of hunting
and fishing licensing information. DFG anticipates full ALDS
implementation by 2014. ALDS will replace DFG's paper-based
licensing system. Using ALDS, DFG, and its licensed agents,
will gain the ability to capture and quickly retrieve customer
information, including license purchase histories.
DFG notes, based on its knowledge of fishing license programs
in other states that have adopted policies similar to the
policy required by this bill, that the changes sought by this
bill may affect fishing license sales. However, the
department is not able to characterize the potential affect as
either positive or negative, noting that in some states sales
have increased while in others they have decreased. DFG is
continuing to gather data on the effect on license sales in
states that have adopted license sales policies similar to the
one described in this bill
3)Support. This bill is supported by organizations of
recreational anglers.
4)There is no opposition formally registered to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081