Sign the petition to increase fishing license

[Acristickid]

https://www.change.org/p/pennsylvania-state-house-support-license-fee-increases-for-the-game-and-fish-boat-commissions?recruiter=829678015&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_term=share_petition&utm_content=ex89%3Av4


It’s a total bargain at $100 a year.

 

[FarmerDave]

Is there one for just raising the price of resident licenses? I'm all for that. ;-)

 

[falcon]

Maybe if they stop stocking over wild trout

 

[DanL]

Signed.

 

[poopdeck]

What a conundrum! I'm all for a license increase but I'm totally against taxes, fees, registrations and other terms they use instead of tax, increased on the whims of politicians.

A 350% increase just because there has not been an increase since 2005 is a whim and not a valid reason. if using cost of living increases since 2005 then an increase to 50 bucks (125%) would still be way out of line with inflation but easier to swallow. If your going to more then triple it then I would need to see the math and would want to know why it needs to be tripled and how the money would be spent.

No way am I signing anything for a 350% increase of a license with out something more then an emotional plea to be a good sportsmen. With that said, let all the true sportsmen chime in with "signed."

 

[Dave_W]

I don't see on the Change.org link that the petition calls for a fee of $100.
I'm not much familiar with these sorts of petitions - am I missing something?

If this is just a petition to raise fees for the PFBC and the PGC (not to $100) we should edit this thread to reflect that, rather than confuse readers about the dollar amount.

 

[Solitariolupo]

I think a better petition needs to be out than this. Not for it. If you should sign anything it should include the tax we are paying extra for already. Fish commission should be already supported by our taxes and their not.
The best way to support them is to donate money our get into there other programs like their pins and other ways.

 

[DaveS]

It does not list an amount. But I do support an increase so I signed.

Disclaimer:
I got a ten year license last year, so it won’t effect me until 2027.
If I live that long.

 

[tomitrout]

Yeah, that petition is much too vague in its wording to garner my support for it. Better off to just write a letter to my reps with specifics than sign off on that...

 

[tomgamber]

Where are you getting $100 bucks except the original post in this thread?

 

[Reeder]

Present me with a petition for a reduction in the cost of the fishing license fee, which will be offset by the donations from all of those who are so eager to pay more, and I will sign that.

 

[poopdeck]

tomgamber wrote:
Where are you getting $100 bucks except the original post in this thread?

Just the original post.

 

[TimB]

I'd sign a petition to keep the license fee where it's at now, but raise the price of the trout stamp to $100.

Why should wild trout or warmwater anglers have to foot the bill for the stocking truck chasers?

 

[afishinado]

Talk about "fake (fishing) news".....there is no proposal to raise fishing licenses by or to $100!

Here are the real facts:

A Pennsylvania House committee halted a price increase Tuesday of up to $6.50 for fishing licenses next year, PennLive reports .

The price of a license will remain $21 after a contentious hearing in which members of the House Game and Fisheries Committee criticized the leadership of John Arway, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's executive director, according to the report.

The Senate approved an increase of $6.25 to $6.50 next year and annual increases of 3 percent for the next four years in a 47-2 vote, with one abstention. The price hasn't been raised in 12 years, PennLive reported.

The House committee declined to advance the bill, raising management concerns over the commission's $51 million in uncommitted reserves and a short-lived proposal from Arway to reduce fish stocks in the districts of legislators who didn't support a fee increase, which Arway said he regretted.

The commission's annual operating costs of about $56 million exceed its annual revenue, which comes solely from licenses and other money the commission makes through its operations, Arway told the committee, necessitating the license fee increase. Without a fee increase, the commission's reserves will run out in five years, he told the committee.

Link to source: http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/13472797-74/after-contentious-hearing-pennsylvania-wont-increase-fishing-license-fee

Not news > editorial: My take, the politicians can't stand to see any monies left in reserve, like the PFBC maintains. The way they run government is too spend every dollar of revenue and begin to deficit spend until the government is on the brink of shutting down (it happens every year in Harrisburg and Washington). At that time, they vote to fund all their pet programs that got them and keep them in office, and pass tax and fee increases in order for them to continue feed the monster.

 

[wildtrout2]

TimB wrote:
I'd sign a petition to keep the license fee where it's at now, but raise the price of the trout stamp to $100.

Why should wild trout or warmwater anglers have to foot the bill for the stocking truck chasers?

You need the Trout Stamp to fish for stocked trout or wild trout, so I don't get your post.

 

[TimB]

Makes perfect sense to me. If someone doesn't fish for stocked trout, why should they have to pay to support it?

If the PFBC needs increased revenue to support the trout stocking program, then the financial burden should be shouldered by those that utilize those resources. You should have to pay to play.

 

[NewSal]

Signed a few days ago, I spend exponentially more on gear than on license, and as long as they spend it the right way (wishful thinking) then I'm all for it.

 

[tomitrout]

What if you don't fish for stocked trout, but fish 'wild trout' streams that are under special regs, like the Letort, Spring or Big Spring for example? Do you think a trout stamp is in order for those waters?

I personally don't mind the trout stamp, whether I fish for stocked or not, it keeps it nice and simple. I've been spending more time in VA lately and you want to talk about a convoluted license buying experience....

 

[TimB]

Last time I fished in VA, I didn't need a trout stamp to fish for wild trout. You only needed it to fish trout stocked waters. Not sure if that's still the case there, but it made perfect sense to me. Why not do that here in PA?

The vast majority of my fishing in PA is for warmwater fish. I'm happy to pay whatever the license fee is to do that. I just don't want to pay for stocked fish so that some yahoos can fill their freezer with hatchery trout.

 

[tomitrout]

Yeah, you also don't need the trout stamp in VA to fish 'stocked streams' during certain times of the year, mainly in the summer. Some of the streams that come out of SNP you don't need a stamp for in the park, but you do outside of it if they're stocked lower down....some state parks you need to pay a daily fee to fish in the park, but not outside the lines in the national forest. Mossy Creek you need a free stamp, but not a trout stamp.....not the easiest to make sense of, so I just bought 'em all to be covered as I explore.

And I really don't mind having to pay a nominal fee for a PA trout stamp to support the program, whether I utilize it or not. I'm guessing that the trout stamp monies probably get used for more than just the hatchery program, like access and programs that support the couple examples of streams I posted previously.