We are reposting the text from KENTUCKIANA CHAPTER OF SAFARI CLUB INTERATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ACTION COMMITTEE in its entirety. To see the original post click here.
Northern Kentucky Fly Fishers, Inc OPPOSES HB 352 in its current form and we urge you to contact your legislators at the links at the bottom of this post.
Kentuckiana Safari Club OPPOSES the passage of HB 352 in its current form.
Additionally, the leadership of the League of Kentucky Sportsmen, Appalachian Outdoorsmen Association and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers – Kentucky Chapter also OPPOSE this bill.
This bill would take $5.5 million dollars from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife
Resources (KDFWR) each year for the next two years for a total of $11 million dollars.
Why are sportsmen and women opposed to the removal of money from KDFWR?
Because it’s not general fund tax money, it’s the sportsmen and women’s money.
The KDFWR is funded by sportsmen and women’s dollars. It receives zero money from the Kentucky General Fund. Thus, the removal of any funds from the KDFWR is unacceptable. This bill amounts to legislators taking sportsmen/women’s money that was paid into the Department of Fish and Wildlife to run our Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Generally, the KDFWR’s annual budget is made up of the following:
50% revenue from hunting, fishing and trapping license sales
35% excise taxes paid for by hunters, fishers, recreational shooters and recreational boaters
10% motorboat registration fees
5% comes from other federal grants, gifts and revenue associated with land management
The 35% the KDFWR receives in excise taxes is paid for by sportsmen and women and held by the Department of the Interior, then distributed back to Kentucky by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annually. If you want to learn more about those excise taxes, there are two bills that sum it up and you can read about them at the following links:
Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson)
Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (Dingell-Johnson)
Let’s compare two agencies in the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet – the Department of Fish
and Wildlife and State Parks.
The Kentucky State Parks’ annual budget is approximately $111 million and the annual economic
impact to Kentucky is only $889 million.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ annual budget is $65 million and the
annual economic impact if $5.9 billion – yes BILLION.
Remember KDFWR receives zero from the general fund – so it’s really – $0 invested and
$5.9 billion in return.
You can research those numbers at the following links:
Tourism, Arts and Heritage Budget 2020-2022
Economic Impact of Kentucky State Parks
Economic Impact of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Taking $11 million of sportsmen and women’s money over a two-year period is really 8% of
the total budget of the KDFWR over that same period. Their budget is used to generate $5,900,000,000 for the Commonwealth. That is a terrible business decision.
The sportsmen and women’s money must be left in the budget of the KDFWR .
Amend House Bill 352.
You can research the whole bill or skip to page 125 to see the details at this link: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/20RS/hb352/orig_bill.pdf
The prime sponsor of this bill is Steven Rudy (Republican) 1st District, Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman and McCraken counties. You can reach him at this link:
https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=1
The bill has no cosponsors.
To contact the leadership of the House, use the information below:
The Speaker of the House is David Osborne (Republican) 59th District, Oldham County. You can reach him at this link:
https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=59
The Speaker Pro Tempore is David Meade (Republican) 80th District, Lincoln and Pulaski Counties. You can reach him at this link:
https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=80
The Majority Leader is John Carney (Republican) 51st District, Adair and Taylor Counties. You can reach him at this link:
https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=51
To contact the leadership of the Senate, use the information below:
The President of the Senate is Robert Stivers II (Republican) 25th District, Clay, Knox, Lee, Owsley, Whitley and Wolfe Counties. You can reach him at this link:
https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=125
The President Pro Tempore is David P. Givens (Republican) 9th District, Allen, Barren, Green, Metcalfe, Monroe and Simpson Counties. You can reach him at this link:
https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=109
The Majority Floor Leader is Damon Thayer (Republican) 17th District, Grant, Kenton and Scott Counties. You can reach him at this link:
https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=117
The Majority Caucus Leader is Julie Raque Adams (Republican) 36th District, Jefferson County. You can reach her at this link:
https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=136
To speak to your State Legislators for your home district visit this link – Who’s my Legislator?
To speak with our KY-SCI club leadership you can do so at this link – KY-SCI Leadership.