BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 589|
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VETO
Bill No: SB 589
Author: Harman (R), et al
Amended: 7/13/09
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 11-0, 4/28/09
AYES: Pavley, Cogdill, Benoit, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe,
Leno, Padilla, Simitian, Wiggins, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 34-0, 5/18/09
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Calderon,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Dutton, Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth, Kehoe,
Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza,
Padilla, Pavley, Runner, Simitian, Strickland, Walters,
Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Florez, Huff, Romero,
Steinberg, Vacancy
SENATE FLOOR : 35-1, 8/24/09
AYES: Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Calderon, Cedillo,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla,
Pavley, Price, Runner, Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland,
Walters, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Romero
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Huff, Maldonado, Oropeza
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 7/16/09 - See last page for vote
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SUBJECT : Game hunting
SOURCE : California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
DIGEST : This bill establishes a new, consolidated big
game management account in the Fish and Game Preservation
Fund, where proceeds of specialized tags to authorize the
hunting of antelope, elk, deer, wild pig, bear, and bighorn
sheep will be deposited. The funds will be available upon
appropriation for projects that will benefit these species
and expand public hunting opportunities as well as land
acquisition, enforcement, and the department's reasonable
costs. An advisory committee will be appointed to review
expenditures. Grants to nonprofits that are consistent
with the purposes of this account will be authorized. The
continuous appropriation for deer tags will be eliminated.
Assembly Amendments added co-authors and were technical and
clarifying in nature.
ANALYSIS : Existing law in the Fish and Game Code and in
regulations of the California Fish and Game Commission
(CFGC) establish hunting seasons, bag limits, and other
statutory qualifications and restrictions for the hunting
of game in California. Additional provisions are specific
to various species. For example, existing provisions
explicitly provide for a licensed hunter to supplement
his/her license with "tags" that allow the lawful take
various species, including deer, elk, bear, wild pigs,
antelope, bighorn sheep, and upland game birds.
Existing law establishes the regulatory powers of the CFGC
including the power to regulate the taking or possession of
wildlife. The Commission is also responsible for
establishing general policies for the conduct of the
department.
Existing law requires the Director of the Department of
Fish and Game (DFG) and the Secretary for Resources to
annually report on the fund condition of the DFG's various
accounts that comprise the Fish and Game Preservation Fund
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as part of the annual budget process. This was a provision
of SB 1535 (Kuehl) that implemented a recommendation of the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) which was concerned
about the accounting practices of DFG. In 2004, a state
audit noted accounting issues with various dedicated
accounts within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund hat
have been addressed to a certain extent both with remedial
legislation and internally within the department.
Existing law provides for the continuous appropriation of
54 percent of the funds generated by the sale of deer tags
for the implementation of deer herd management funds.
More than nine million dollars is generated through the
sale of hunting licenses, and specialized tags generate
another two million dollars. Bear tags generate $775,000.
Elk tags generate about $100,000 annually, antelope about
ten thousand dollars, and bighorn sheep about five thousand
dollars.
This bill establishes a new, consolidated "big game
management account" in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.
Proceeds of specialized tags to authorize the hunting of
antelope, elk, deer, wild pig, bear, and bighorn sheep will
be deposited. The funds will be available upon
appropriation for projects that will benefit these species
and expand public hunting opportunities as well as land
acquisition, enforcement, and the department's reasonable
costs. An advisory committee will be appointed to review
expenditures. Grants to nonprofits that are consistent
with the purposes of this account will be authorized. The
continuous appropriation for deer tags will be eliminated.
The existing upland game bird account will be amended to
provide for an advisory committee to provide oversight of
the funds recommended for expenditure. Presently, this
function is performed by a subcommittee of the CFGC. Funds
can also be awarded to reimburse nonprofit groups that
develop habitat projects.
The bill also provides that lands purchased by the state
with hunting license revenues shall be open to the public
for hunting and other activities that require only minimal
facilities.
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This bill clarifies that funds in the new big game
management accounts will be generally available for big
game projects, rather than projects specific to the species
that are covered by the individual tags.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/16/09)
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance (source)
California Council of Land Trusts
California Deer Association
The Mule Deer Foundation
California Chapter Foundation for North American Wild Sheep
Lower Sherman Island Duck Hunters Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/16/09)
Born Free USA
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Council of Land
Trusts supports the provisions that will direct funding to
habitat restoration and nonprofits that work with DFG to
improve habitat. The Mule Deer Foundation supports the
provisions that direct license tag monies to game species
conservation and that establishes a role for sportsmen's
groups to review and comment on proposed expenditures. The
California Chapter Foundation for North American Wild Sheep
believes that the consolidation of the existing fiscal
accounts for big game species into a single account will
improve efficiencies at DFG and helps ensure that there
will be adequate funds available for various projects.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Born Free USA objects to this
bill because it would fund projects related to hunting and
habitat improvements for that purpose.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
"I am returning Senate Bill 589 without my signature.
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This bill would establish two new dedicated accounts
within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund; one for
the deposit of revenues generated through the sale of
big game tags, and one for funds received from the
sale of upland game bird stamps. This bill would make
changes to the way in which the Department of Fish
and Game (Department) may spend the monies in the
newly-created accounts and would require the
Department to include a fund condition statement on
its website.
The creation of more dedicated accounts and reserving
more funds for those accounts will only increase the
complexity of the Department's fiscal management of
these dollars, as well as reduce the Department's
flexibility to appropriately administer hunting
programs. Additionally, the bill's requirement that
the Department post budget information on its public
website is redundant since the Department already
does this for all of its accounts.
For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,
Duvall, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson, Eng, Krekorian, Lieu, Saldana,
Villines, Vacancy
CTW:do 1/6/10 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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