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Bill invites military to hunt and fish for free
On Sept. 1, active-duty personnel in Texas qualify for license
By SHANNON TOMPKINS
The Texas Legislature believes the state owes active-duty military personnel living in Texas a free hunting or fishing license.
A bill they sent the governor would do just that.
Under terms of House Bill 1076 introduced by Rep. Joe Crabb, R-Kingwood, and co-sponsored by seven other legislators, active-duty military personnel based in Texas would be able to obtain a state hunting or fishing license for no fee.
Currently, qualified disabled veterans are the only group exempt from hunting and fishing license fees.
Texas holds 100,000 to 125,000 active-duty military personnel, with that number varying depending on many factors. The Legislative Budget Board reported 114,196 active-duty military personnel were located in Texas as of Sept. 30.
$800,000 in lost revenue
Exempting resident, active-duty military personnel from the $23 annual hunting license and the $28-$45 (depending on version and fishing stamps included) annual fishing license stands to cost Texas Parks and Wildlife Department a maximum of about $800,000 a year, the LBB estimated.
That estimate is based on military personnel buying hunting and fishing licenses in the same proportion as the general population, the LBB noted.
The $800,000 state officials figure will be lost by exempting active-duty military personnel from license fees represents less than 1 percent of the $111.6 million estimated as annual revenue into Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Fund 9, the fund into which all license fees are deposited.
The license fee exemption will take effect Sept. 1.
Active-duty military personnel stationed in Texas have for years qualified to purchase resident hunting and fishing licenses.
But this past autumn, issues surfaced centering on National Guard and reserve military personnel transferred to Texas as part of the military's shuffling of troops to foreign theaters.
Regulations were unclear if those Guard and reserve troops called to duty stations in Texas qualified to purchase resident hunting or fishing licenses.
TPWD officials quickly moved to clarify the rules, allowing any National Guard or reserve personnel called to active duty and sent to Texas to qualify for a resident license.
Personnel in those Guard and reserve units will qualify for the license-fee exemption set to take effect after this year.
A no-go this session
Two pieces of legislation aimed at giving special outdoors-related perks to military and former military personnel appear dead for this session of the Legislature.
House Bill 552 by Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, would exempt all active-duty members of the military and all veterans with an honorable discharge from Texas' hunter education requirements.
Under current Texas law, all hunters older than 17 and born on or after Sept. 2, 1971 must have taken and passed a state-certified hunter education course or purchased a one-time, one-season exemption from that requirement.
The hunter education course includes instruction in firearms safety, hunting regulations, hunting ethics, private property laws, wildlife conservation and management and other hunting-related topics.
The course, which carries a $10 fee, is taught by volunteer instructors and typically involves classroom and field work over a two-day period.
But students also can take the "classroom" portion of the course at home via a videotape/instructional booklet package, then attend a short field course overseen by a certified instructor.
More than 700,000 people have completed Texas' hunter education course since it began in 1988.
No break for veterans
While the hunter education requirement involves much more than firearms safety training, that portion of the course appears to have had a hand in greatly reducing the number of hunting-related accidents involving firearms.
During the 10-year period 1966-75, Texas annually averaged 84.5 firearms-related hunting accidents and 23.4 fatalities.
Over the past decade, 1995-2004, the state averaged 40.9 firearms-related accidents and 4.3 fatalities.
Phillips' bill exempting veterans and active-duty military personnel from the state's hunter education requirement made it out of committee, but died awaiting a vote by the full House.
Senate Bill 1288 by Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, would have exempted all veterans of military service — residents and non-residents — from hunting and fishing license fees.
Such an exemption would have a considerable impact on TPWD wildlife and fisheries programs, as license fees provide the bulk of funding for conservation work in the state. State officials estimate Texas is home to 1.8 million to 2 million veterans.
Lucio's bill went nowhere, failing even to get a hearing in committee.
Uncertain future
While both bills appear moribund, nothing is certain just yet.
During the final weeks of the legislative session, bills that have no hope of passage on their own regularly are offered as amendments to bills being considered for passage on the House or Senate floor.
With specific exceptions, May 25 is the final day Texas legislators can pass legislation. The session officially ends May 30.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/outdoors/3190396
On Sept. 1, active-duty personnel in Texas qualify for license
By SHANNON TOMPKINS
The Texas Legislature believes the state owes active-duty military personnel living in Texas a free hunting or fishing license.
A bill they sent the governor would do just that.
Under terms of House Bill 1076 introduced by Rep. Joe Crabb, R-Kingwood, and co-sponsored by seven other legislators, active-duty military personnel based in Texas would be able to obtain a state hunting or fishing license for no fee.
Currently, qualified disabled veterans are the only group exempt from hunting and fishing license fees.
Texas holds 100,000 to 125,000 active-duty military personnel, with that number varying depending on many factors. The Legislative Budget Board reported 114,196 active-duty military personnel were located in Texas as of Sept. 30.
$800,000 in lost revenue
Exempting resident, active-duty military personnel from the $23 annual hunting license and the $28-$45 (depending on version and fishing stamps included) annual fishing license stands to cost Texas Parks and Wildlife Department a maximum of about $800,000 a year, the LBB estimated.
That estimate is based on military personnel buying hunting and fishing licenses in the same proportion as the general population, the LBB noted.
The $800,000 state officials figure will be lost by exempting active-duty military personnel from license fees represents less than 1 percent of the $111.6 million estimated as annual revenue into Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Fund 9, the fund into which all license fees are deposited.
The license fee exemption will take effect Sept. 1.
Active-duty military personnel stationed in Texas have for years qualified to purchase resident hunting and fishing licenses.
But this past autumn, issues surfaced centering on National Guard and reserve military personnel transferred to Texas as part of the military's shuffling of troops to foreign theaters.
Regulations were unclear if those Guard and reserve troops called to duty stations in Texas qualified to purchase resident hunting or fishing licenses.
TPWD officials quickly moved to clarify the rules, allowing any National Guard or reserve personnel called to active duty and sent to Texas to qualify for a resident license.
Personnel in those Guard and reserve units will qualify for the license-fee exemption set to take effect after this year.
A no-go this session
Two pieces of legislation aimed at giving special outdoors-related perks to military and former military personnel appear dead for this session of the Legislature.
House Bill 552 by Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, would exempt all active-duty members of the military and all veterans with an honorable discharge from Texas' hunter education requirements.
Under current Texas law, all hunters older than 17 and born on or after Sept. 2, 1971 must have taken and passed a state-certified hunter education course or purchased a one-time, one-season exemption from that requirement.
The hunter education course includes instruction in firearms safety, hunting regulations, hunting ethics, private property laws, wildlife conservation and management and other hunting-related topics.
The course, which carries a $10 fee, is taught by volunteer instructors and typically involves classroom and field work over a two-day period.
But students also can take the "classroom" portion of the course at home via a videotape/instructional booklet package, then attend a short field course overseen by a certified instructor.
More than 700,000 people have completed Texas' hunter education course since it began in 1988.
No break for veterans
While the hunter education requirement involves much more than firearms safety training, that portion of the course appears to have had a hand in greatly reducing the number of hunting-related accidents involving firearms.
During the 10-year period 1966-75, Texas annually averaged 84.5 firearms-related hunting accidents and 23.4 fatalities.
Over the past decade, 1995-2004, the state averaged 40.9 firearms-related accidents and 4.3 fatalities.
Phillips' bill exempting veterans and active-duty military personnel from the state's hunter education requirement made it out of committee, but died awaiting a vote by the full House.
Senate Bill 1288 by Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, would have exempted all veterans of military service — residents and non-residents — from hunting and fishing license fees.
Such an exemption would have a considerable impact on TPWD wildlife and fisheries programs, as license fees provide the bulk of funding for conservation work in the state. State officials estimate Texas is home to 1.8 million to 2 million veterans.
Lucio's bill went nowhere, failing even to get a hearing in committee.
Uncertain future
While both bills appear moribund, nothing is certain just yet.
During the final weeks of the legislative session, bills that have no hope of passage on their own regularly are offered as amendments to bills being considered for passage on the House or Senate floor.
With specific exceptions, May 25 is the final day Texas legislators can pass legislation. The session officially ends May 30.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/outdoors/3190396
