BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – The House is shooting down a proposal to redesign Louisiana’s recreational hunting and fishing licensing system.
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries proposes to consolidate its licenses, to cut the number from 117 types of recreational hunting and fishing permits to 39.
But what is being billed as a regulatory streamlining initiative also would raise fees on some people, depending on the type of license category a hunter or angler purchases.
The fee hikes have drawn criticism.
Rep. Jerome "Zee" Zeringue, the Houma Republican sponsoring the bill, lessened the increases, to raise about $6.6 million annually, down from $10 million.
But he still couldn’t drum up the two-thirds support needed to pass the measure.
Lawmakers voted 54-27 for the bill. It needed 70 votes.
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A bill aimed at increasing the cost of hunting and fishing licenses has failed to pass in the house.
House Bill 687, which was voted positively 54-27 did not reach the two-thirds vote needed to pass. Fee increases much have 70 votes in total to pass.
According to AP reporters there, many members of the house were missing for the vote.
Hunting and fishing license bill fails. House vote was 54-27. Because it has fee increases, needed 70 votes to pass. Lots of missing members in that vote. #lalege #lagov
— Melinda Deslatte (@MelindaDeslatte) April 23, 2018
In an earlier report by the Associated Press, the bill would start an overhaul of Louisiana’s recreational hunting and fishing licensing system that would pull more money out of some people’s pockets. The 117 recreational hunting and fishing licenses currently offered would drop to 39.
Before the vote Monday, opponents criticized the fee increases, which the department estimated would bring in an extra $10 million annually.
