As the monthslong budget standoff showed, the Legislature is hardly a model of fiscal responsibility. This is one reason — but by no means the only one — for giving the state Game Commission and the state Fish and Boat Commission a bigger say in their financial destinies.
The Legislature is considering, and the agencies are supporting, bills that would give them the authority to set license fees. The Legislature sets the rates now and, at times, has balked at increases requested by the commissions. The Fish and Boat Commission, which charges $22.70 a year for a basic adult license, hasn’t had an increase since 2005. The Game Commission’s $20.70 basic rate has not risen since 1999.
The changes supported by the agencies — embodied in bills sponsored by Sens. Patrick Stefano, R-Fayette, and John Eichelberger Jr., R-Blair — are eminently reasonable. The agencies would have the authority to set rates for three years, subject to legislative oversight, and the power would expire after that. At that point, the Legislature would decide whether to renew it. Because the agencies derive most of their revenue from license fees, there is little risk they will jack up rates too much and bite the hand that feeds them.
The Legislature’s sporadic license increases have created what John Arway, Fish and Boat Commission executive director, calls a “boom-and-bust cycle.” By setting their own fees, the commissions could steer a steadier course, raise fees incrementally and avoid hitting customers with the sticker shock that accompanies large periodic fee hikes. After the 2005 hike, which increased the cost of the basic fishing license by $4.75 a year, sales fell nearly 10 percent — and never bounced back.
There are many reasons for the public to support these agencies, not least is that the Fish and Boat Commission plays a front-line role in monitoring water quality. Without an increase in the fees that fund most of the agencies’ budgets, service cuts are on the horizon. Long experienced in managing wildlife, the commissions have earned the right to manage revenue on their own, too.
First Published: May 31, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
