Proposed hunting, fishing licence price hike on pause

ATLANTA -- The sponsor of a bill that would increase Georgia's hunting and fishing license fees has hit pause while he works on building support.

"I'm building up education on the bill. If that turns into support, we'll see where it goes," said state Rep. Chad Nimmer, R-Blackshear, author of House Bill 872.

"We get a lot of credit for pushing. I hope we get credit for taking a deep breath and slowing down," he said.

His bill would raise the prices of dozens of Georgia hunting and fishing licenses and boat registrations. A basic adult Georgian's one-year hunting license that now costs $10 would rise to $15, for example.

Historically, Georgia has budgeted that fee money back to conservation and natural resources. And that's how Nimmer would like to see the new money spent, too.

The bill would generate perhaps $10 million, in addition to the roughly $23 million the state already raises annually from such fees, according to Georgia Department of Natural Resources numbers.

Several sportsmens' groups have said they support the bill, but only if the money is spent on the places that hunters and anglers use.

The Department of Natural Resources has said it could use the money to do things including opening public fishing areas more days or hiring more biologists or game wardens.

But a lot of questions have come up, said Nimmer, about what he called the "mechanics" of the bill.

One of the ground rules in Georgia budgeting says that most money must go into one big pot that the Legislature budgets out every year. Generally, a specific fee cannot be set aside for a specific budget line item.

But Nimmer said there is confusion about how that rule works while there's also a state law that says Georgia must spend license fees on conservation and natural resources.

But no matter what the law says, there are a few incentives for lawmakers to spend hunting and fishing fees on conservation.

First, if they do, Georgia will be eligible to get federal government matching money.

"Outside a (state) constitutional amendment, that's maybe the next best thing that we have" to ensure license money goes to natural resources, said state Rep. David Knight, R-Griffin, the second signer on the bill.

Another incentive comes from people such as John Trussell of Warner Robins, a hunter and outdoors writer.

Trussell said he supports the bill because he thinks the Department of Natural Resources would spend the money wisely and he trusts the Legislature to "do the right thing" and appropriate the money to that department.

There's political calculation behind that trust, though.

"They're going to catch a very difficult time if they don't from the hunters and fishermen of the state. They will be closely watching the money," he said.

The bill, however, is tabled for now, Nimmer said. That means it's not dead, but he is not working on moving it until all questions are answered.

Time may be too short this legislative year, however. The session is set to end March 24.

To contact writer Maggie Lee, e-mail mlee@macon.com.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Proposed hunting, fishing licence price hike on pause ."