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Finance Committee hears request to cover Fish & Game permit-review staff and salary increases
Summary
Senate Bill 239 (replace-all amendment) would appropriate positions and dollars to cover endangered-species permit review and to make permanent salary increases at Fish & Game. The department said it may need to cut positions unless additional general-fund support is provided.
Sen. David Waters introduced a replace‑all amendment to Senate Bill 239 asking the Finance Committee to appropriate funds to sustain Fish and Game operations: funding for permit-review staff to meet endangered-species and alteration‑of‑terrain review obligations, and $2,000,000 to cover previously authorized salary increases.
Waters said a summer study had identified a potential multi‑million dollar gap in sustaining the agency’s operations, and he described the amendment as a placeholder to align the committee’s response with the governor’s forthcoming budget. The amendment would fund roughly four permit-review staff (testimony placed the cost at about $400,000 per year) so Fish and Game can perform environmental review related to threatened and endangered species work tied to DES alteration-of-terrain permits.
Kathy Levante, business-division chief for Fish and Game, told senators the four permit-review positions — salary, benefits and operations — total about $400,000 annually and that the separate $2,000,000 deposit the department received in 2023 to cover earlier raises was not continued in subsequent budgets. Director Mason (DES and Fish and Game leadership used in testimony; Director Simon is the agency director referenced in the hearing) said the agency is examining possible efficiencies and interagency memoranda of understanding with DES and Department of Safety but told the committee she may have to reduce seasonal or other staff if the revenue shortfall continues.
Senators pressed whether fees, interagency MOUs, or other revenue sources could offset the gap. Several senators noted a new Supreme Court directive to Fish and Game to review AOT permits for endangered-species impacts; Senator Golling said the decision effectively added work to Fish and Game’s statutory duties. The department and conservation supporters argued for transitional general-fund support while longer-term fee or MOU arrangements are explored.
Meredith Hatfield of The Nature Conservancy and other conservation organizations testified in support of Fish and Game and urged the committee to provide bridge funding while the agency refines revenue options. The transcript records committee discussion of the amendment and interest in technical follow-up but does not show a final public roll-call vote during the hearing portion of the record provided.
