KC's Corner

More Legislation

Sun, February 19, 2012

Looks like it was another busy week in Springfield. Here’s a few more bills making the rounds. Keep in mind, these bills have just been introduced as proposals and are not official rule changes. Legislation has a long way to go to be approved, having to be approved at the committee level and full floor of the legislative house where the bill originated. It then has to move to the other house to go through the same process. If it does make it through both houses, it then faces the scrutiny of the Governor who can ignore it (it then automatically becomes law after 60 days), sign it into law, or veto the bill (where it starts over). While it is a long road to travel, it never hurts to try to stop some of them in their tracks on the front end before they gain very much traction.

HB5612 - Wildlife - Deer - Pistol Caliber
Jim Sacia, Freeport
Synopsis As Introduced
Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that deer may be taken in the State with rifles that fire certain handgun cartridges. Provides that over and under combination rifle-shotguns are prohibited.

Looking a little closer, here’s the exact wording on the bill:

For the purposes of this Section, legal rifles include only rifles that fire a handgun cartridge having (i) a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger, (ii) a minimum case length of 1.16 inches, and (iii) a maximum case length of 1.625 inches. Over and under combination rifle-shotguns are prohibited.

HB5640 - Wildlife - Harvest Reporting
Norinne Hammond, Macomb
Synopsis As Introduced
Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall establish harvest report stations throughout the State during the open seasons for licensed hunters to report the number of deer and wild turkey harvested in person rather than through the telephone or the Department’s website. Provides that the if the hunter chooses to report his or her harvest in person, he or she must report the harvest within 48 hours after the kill.

I do like the idea of check stations, but voluntary check stations? Would they be used? For all those who want check stations back, would you now choose to drive to a check station instead of phoning in your kill? Would the “bad guys” use them? It would give a person up to 2 days to check in a deer/turkey in person as opposed to the deadlines in place with the current system.

HB5685 - DNR Land - Disorderly Conduct
Jerry Costello II, Sparta
Synopsis as Introduced
Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department shall have the authority to remove any individual or group of individuals engaging in illegal activities or disorderly conduct from any lands owned, leased, or managed by the Department and any lands that are dedicated as a nature preserve or buffer area under the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act and deny future entry to the same by way of revocation or suspension of access privileges. Provides that hearings on access privileges shall be governed by administrative rule. Provides that the Department may assess a fee of up to $1,000 for the reinstatement of a suspended license, permit, registration, and other privileges that it administers in the exercise of its powers and duties under Illinois law.

This bill is interesting, in that it gives the DNR the authority to charge $1,000 to get a license back after suspension. I ran across another bill (SB2553) that basically does the same thing in establishing these potential fees. In fact, the wording of the last sentence is identical. While I’m not opposed to more penalties for law-breakers, I have to wonder how many licenses we’re even suspending for breaking wildlife laws (except the high-profile cases we’ve read about recently). It also makes me wonder… is this being proposed as a way to reduce law-breaking, or as another revenue-generating source?

HB5789 - DNR - Park Entrance Fees
JoAnn D. Osmond, Antioch
Synopsis As Introduced
Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Authorizes the Department to charge an annual vehicle admission fee and daily access fee for entrance to properties owned, managed, leased, or all by the Department. Provides that the Department may charge a daily access fee to pedestrians and to owners of vehicles that do not have a current annual vehicle sticker. Provides that the Department may establish a fee for individuals who use a park without paying the annual vehicle admission fee or daily access fee. Requires revenue generated by the annual vehicle admission and daily access fees to be deposited into the State Parks Fund or Wildlife and Fish Fund. Authorizes the Department to adopt any rules necessary to implement these fees. Effective July 1, 2012.

And finally…

HB5901 - Wilflife - Earn-A-Buck Program
Roger L. Eddy, Hutsonville
Synopsis As Introduced
Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources, beginning with the 2013 deer hunting season, shall conduct an Earn-A-Buck pilot program. Provides that, upon reporting the taking of an antlerless deer, the hunter shall be issued an additional either-sex permit to allow the hunter to take an additional antlered deer, and that this additional permit shall not be counted toward one of the 2 antlered deer a hunter may take in a year, allowing a hunter who takes an antlerless deer to take up to 3 antlered deer in a year. Provides that the Department may adopt rules to establish and administer the Earn-A-Buck pilot program.

The guts of the bill reads:

The Department, after the 2014 deer hunting season, shall compare bag totals and herd management data from the 2013 and 2014 deer seasons with bag totals and herd management data from previous deer hunting seasons to determine whether the Earn-A-Buck program shall continue in the State to assist with deer herd management. The Department may adopt rules to establish and administer the Earn-A-Buck pilot program.

At least this bill doesn’t require you to shoot 2 does, but it does allow you to kill an extra buck if you shoot a doe. And you can tell that we still have legislators who believe we need to reduce the deer herd, even after several years of declining deer harvest and increasing permit numbers.

In addition, Senator John O. Jones’s SB3316 (the double earn-a-buck bill) has moved out of the Senate Rules Committee to the Ag & Conservation Committee.  Senator Jones sits on that committee. It will be interesting to see if he calls his bill in the committee. While it’s on the slate of bills to be heard, there’s no date set for the next meeting. And often times the bills will get assigned to the appropriate committees, but will die without even being called by the sponsor. We’ll see if it gets called, or if Senator Jones is using the bill as a chess piece in a bigger game. It may be worth a call to Senator Jones’s office to tell him how you feel about it. His local office number is (618) 242-9511.

All for now.

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