BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1844
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1844 (Gallagher) - As Amended March 10, 2016
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|Policy |Water, Parks and Wildlife |Vote:|11 - 2 |
|Committee: | | | |
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| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| |Veterans Affairs | |9 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to
reduce the fees required to obtain hunting licenses and various
sport fishing entitlements for veterans of the Armed Forces of
the United States. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires DFW to reduce the fee required to obtain a lifetime
sportsman's license, an annual or lifetime hunting license, or
AB 1844
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an annual or lifetime sport fishing license, by 25%, for any
resident of the state who is a Veteran of the United States
Armed Forces and who was honorably discharged.
2)Requires DFW to reduce the fee required to obtain any sport
fishing report card, validation, or other entitlement required
in addition to a sport fishing license by 25% for any resident
of the state who is a Veteran of the United States Armed
Forces and was honorably discharged, and by 50% for a Veteran
who has a 50% or greater service-connected disability.
3)Prohibits the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) from increasing
license fees for non-veterans to make up the loss of revenue
to DFW from the Veteran discounts.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Unknown significant revenue loss, potentially in the millions of
dollars, to DFW from discount sales of hunting and fishing
licenses (Fish and Game Preservation Fund, and Lifetime License
Trust Account).
According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, there are
approximately 1.8 million Veterans living in California, with
331,645 receiving monthly disability compensation as of 2014.
This bill increases eligibility from a universe of approximately
331,600 to 1.8 million Veterans.
As an example, an annual hunting license currently costs
$47.01and under this bill would be discounted to $35.26. If
only 1% of eligible California Veterans purchase a discounted
hunting license, the associated annual revenue losses would be
$211,500.
AB 1844
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Because this bill prohibits the FGC from increasing the fees for
hunting and fishing licenses and sport fishing report cards sold
to nonveterans in order to recoup the loss of revenue, it is
likely to result in significant revenue loss.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill provides Veterans
more access to outdoor recreation opportunities in California
by providing discounted hunting and fishing license fees to
all Veterans. This bill also provides discounts to Veterans
for sport fishing report cards that are required to take
specific fish or to fish in certain areas, in addition to a
sport fishing license.
The author also contends that this bill will provide more
access to California Veterans and by increasing access, will
expand participation in hunting and fishing by Veterans, their
families, and friends. This expanded participation may lead
to increased sales of licenses in future years.
2)Background: The DFW reports that in 2015, California issued
approximately 14,174 disabled Veteran sport fishing licenses,
which are issued on a calendar year basis. For the 2014/15
hunting license year, approximately 3,500 disabled Veteran
hunting licenses were issued. Hunting licenses are issued on
a fiscal year basis, from July through June. DFW also
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indicates that fewer than 50 recovering service member
licenses have been issued each year since that program began
in 2013.
3)Related Legislation. AB 1972 (Chau) would extend eligibility
for the state's existing Distinguished Veteran State Park day
use pass, which currently is available to Veterans with
disabilities who served during war time, to also includes
Veterans with a service-connected disability who served during
peace time. AB 1972 is on suspense in this Committee.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081