Legislative & Regulatory News

SB 431 Laughlin, Daniel - (PN 451) Amends Title 34 (Games) providing for the sale of antlerless deer hunting licenses through the Game Commission's Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System. 

The bill was reported as committed out of the Senate Game & Fish Committee 5/24/2021, with Senators Cris Dush (R-Jefferson), John Gordner (R-Columbia) and Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango) voting in the negative.

Chairman Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), prime sponsor of the bill, said sportsmen in Pennsylvania spend $1 million on postage annually to get a license that can be sold online. He said the Game Commission spends $170,000 annually to print pink envelopes. He noted that residents would save $1 million annually because of this bill and that it simply automates the process.

Minority Chairman Jim Brewster (D-Allegheny) thanked the chairman for presenting the bill and requested an affirmative vote on the bill. He said that these requests should be automated and those applying for a doe hunting license shouldn’t have to depend on the timeliness of the mail.

House Bill 207 would provide for the sale of antlerless deer hunting licenses through the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Automated Licensing System. 

If either of these bills pass both chambers and is signed by the Governor, hunters could potentially buy their antlerless licenses online or in person at the same outlet where they bought their original license. 

Senator Laughlin Introduced SB 607 to Remove the Prohibition on Sunday hunting and leave the decision to the Game Commission.

Co-sponsor Memo 

SB 607 Bill Text/History

Passage of the bill will help bring Pennsylvania wildlife management into the 21st Century standards and eliminate the restrictions based on a 338-year-old law from 1682.

Wildlife management should be based on science-led, resource first wildlife management established in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

We must strive for optimization of opportunity if we want to optimize participation. 

PFSC supports the PGC having full authority to set season dates - including Sundays.

Connecting our forests leads to stronger wildlife populations

Our wildlife is under enormous pressure in Pennsylvania. The causes are well known, and not only to state wildlife professionals. Attentive outdoor enthusiasts observe the loss of habitat due to expanding suburbs, exurbs, and generations of road building. The result is habitat fragmentation, which is the dividing of suitable habitat into smaller, isolated patches. Eventually, the patches are too small to sustain biodiversity, which is vital to healthy wildlife populations. 

Connected habitat— including unrestricted rivers and streams, large blocks of forests, and patches of grasslands —is important to maintain Pennsylvania’s biodiversity. Biodiversity is enhanced by creating a connected ecosystem bigger than the sum of the parts, one that allows animals to move. This movement is necessary on a daily basis for food, or seasonally for den sites. Youngsters must disperse to find territory and mates and to increase genetic diversity within their populations. Some species respond to climate change by seeking to migrate farther north to remain in suitable habitats. 

Conservation corridors are a key conservation strategy needed to protect our wildlife. Pennsylvania House Resolution 74, introduced into the Tourism and Recreational Development Committee by Rep. Daley (D, 148th, Montgomery County) and Rep. Kaufer (R,120th, Luzerne County), provides the legislation to begin the study of conservation corridors in Pennsylvania. A similar resolution (SR70) has been introduced into the Pennsylvania Senate’s Environmental Resources and Energy Committee by Senator Muth (D, 44th, parts of Berks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties).  

It is only through the combined efforts of Pennsylvania sportsmen, wildlife enthusiasts, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, legislators, and other stakeholders that we may identify the permanent solution to Chronic Wasting Disease here in Pennsylvania. 

  ***THE PA GAME COMMISSION HAS NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY/CONTROL OVER CAPTIVE/FARMED ANIMALS***    

House Bill 119 Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Trappers Association have previously supported this measure and legislation to increase the penalty for illegally setting these traps from a summary offense of the fifth degree to a summary offense of the first degree. This change would increase maximum fines from $200 to $1,500. 

(Waiting For Updated 2021 Session Legislation) 

The PA Game Commission needs the same authority as the PA Fish & Boat Commission (HB808) to set fees.   The PGC does not receive state funding. Revenue comes from hunting licenses sales, Pittman & Robertson Funding, and other conservation sources.  License fees for the PGC are set by the state legislature.  The last hunting license fee increase was in 1999.

Representative Keith Gillispie
“Both of those agencies, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pennsylvania Fish, and Boat Commission, are professional agencies,” said state Rep. Keith Gillespie (R-York), the committee chair. “They’re not going to price themselves out of the market, and they know where they need to direct those resources to and how to manage it.”

Last session, the individual bills both passed overwhelmingly in the Senate but lacked the votes in our committee. I’m planning to take another swing at this because of my strong feeling that the commissions both need and deserve the ability to set their own fees for the benefit of outdoor enthusiasts for whom they provide much-needed services.  

2021-2022 Co-Sponsorship Memo - Senator Joe Pittman

This proposed legislation would allow organizations with Small Games Of Chance club licenses to offer games of chance virtually via the internet or mobile application, as well as receive payment electronically through credit and debit cards or other electronic mobile payment applications.