EDITORIAL: Read my lips - no increase in fees

It may not sound like a lot of money to some, but the submitted legislation that would raise fees for hunting and fishing licenses has a not-so-hidden caveat. For example, a resident hunting license goes from $10 to $15. A resident hunting/fishing license goes from $17 to $30. Most of the other increases nickle and dime residents, but hit nonresidents much harder. A non-resident fishing license is $50. A non-resident hunting license is $100.

The reason for the increases, they say, is to fund wildlife and conservation programs to the tune of an additional $10 million. However, our trust in state government to do what it says it will do when it comes to such programs is at a low ebb. For example, take the Solid Waste Trust Fund -- that's the additional $1 consumers pay per new tire bought to help dispose of the old tires properly. Much of the money collected was diverted to pay for other things rather than cleaning up old tire dumps. Same thing with the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund. Combined, about $130 million went into the state's general fund according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

When it came time to renew the landfill fees for the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund three years ago, lawmakers attempted to put language in the extension that would have reduced the fees if the money was diverted. Didn't work out, though. Gov. Nathan Deal, simply declared in a signing statement that the language reducing the fees was not binding. So much for that.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 9:54 PM with the headline "EDITORIAL: Read my lips - no increase in fees ."