Panel clears bill letting DWR assign hunter‑education coordinators across regions as online instruction grows

Senate Bill 1204, introduced by Senator Mulcay, would change Virginia Code section 29.1‑300.2 to give the Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) flexibility in how it assigns hunter‑education coordinators. The change would allow coordinators to be deployed for multiple duties — hunter education, hunter recruitment, angling education and boating safety — rather than be fixed to one administrative region.

The sponsor told the subcommittee that the statutory requirement for one coordinator per DWR administrative region was created when hunter‑education training was conducted entirely in person. “This bill will allow the department to still employ and assign the coordinators that are needed for the hunter education program, but through more strategic budgeting, it will also allow the coordinators to serve multiple purposes,” the sponsor said.

The testimony noted that DWR currently has four administrative regions and that online instruction has reduced the workload associated with in‑person classes, decreasing the need for a full‑time, regionally fixed coordinator. The sponsor said the bill is not intended to reduce education opportunities: “Members who are interested in attending in person Hunter education courses will continue to have the same opportunities as before,” the sponsor said.

A committee member asked whether competency requirements for in‑person skills would change; the sponsor replied that existing requirements for competency would not change.

There was no opposition testimony on the record. The subcommittee voted to report the bill by roll call, recorded in favor by Senators Perry, Hackworth, Celine, Williams Graves and French, and none opposed (5–0).