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House committee votes to report bill removing Game Commission questioning penalty cited as unconstitutional
Summary
Senate Bill 518, which would remove language in Title 34 making it unlawful to refuse to answer questions from Pennsylvania Game Commission representatives, was reported out of the House Game and Fishery Committee after the chair said there were no negative votes.
Senate Bill 518, which would remove provisions in Title 34 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes making it unlawful to refuse to answer questions from representatives of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, was reported out of the House Game and Fishery Committee after the committee chair said there were no negative votes.
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Rothman, told the committee the provision “conflict[s] with the Pennsylvania and the U.S. constitutions,” saying the game code’s requirement to answer questions violated the Fifth Amendment and Article I, Section 9, of the Pennsylvania Constitution. He said the bill removes the “offending language” and that the Pennsylvania Game Commission cooperated in crafting the change.
Paul, a committee staff member who read the bill summary for the committee, described the statutory change as a repeal of the language making refusal to answer unlawful. Chair Maloney said she was “in complete support of the bill” and the committee proceeded to report it.
A motion to suspend the rules to consider a late-filed amendment related to an open-field provision was offered earlier in the discussion but failed after a roll-call vote; the amendment was recorded as not timely filed in accordance with House Rule 3(c). The committee then proceeded to the question of reporting the bill; the chair asked whether there were any negative votes and, hearing none, stated the bill would be reported from committee.
The bill, as summarized to the committee, would not itself add new investigative powers; it would simply remove the statutory penalty that made refusal to answer Game Commission questions a standalone offense. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is listed by the sponsor as having worked with him on the language change.
Next steps: the committee reported SB 518 to the full House for further consideration; the transcript indicates the committee vote to report was taken by voice/consensus after the chair called for negative votes and none were raised.
