Conference committee agrees to amend HB 2028 with youth lifetime license tiers, nonresident waterfowl limits and a three‑year sunset

TOPEKA — On Feb. 13, 2025, a Kansas legislative conference committee reached agreement to amend House Bill 2028 to (1) restore two youth lifetime hunting-and-fishing license categories with different prices, (2) incorporate Senate Bill 213’s limits on when nonresidents may hunt migratory waterfowl, and (3) place a three‑year sunset on that nonresident waterfowl limitation while requiring the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to report back to standing committees.

The agreement would create two youth lifetime combination licenses: a birth‑to‑5 (five and younger) tier priced at $300 and a 6‑to‑15 tier priced at $400. The committee also discussed changes to the migratory waterfowl habitat stamp rates and the bill’s schedule for nonresident hunting days, and agreed to sunset the nonresident‑only day restrictions three years after the bill’s effective date and to request data reports from Wildlife and Parks in January 2026 and January 2027.

Why it matters: The package touches both recruitment of future Kansas hunters through youth lifetime licenses and management of migratory waterfowl hunting access for out‑of‑state hunters. Committee members said the item could affect lodging, travel and retail businesses that serve hunters, and they asked for data to assess effects before deciding whether to make the nonresident restriction permanent.

Details of the committee agreement

Committee members said the conference committee would amend HB 2028 so the kids lifetime combination hunting-and-fishing license has two price tiers: $300 for birth through age 5; $400 for ages 6 through 15. "My understanding of what the conference committee has agreed to is on section 2 of the bill relating to the kids lifetime combination hunting and fishing license is there would again be two categories," staff summarized for the committee. (Tamara, committee staff.)

The Senate position — carried into the conference package by amendment of Senate Bill 213 — adds limits on the days nonresidents may hunt migratory waterfowl (specific days enumerated in statute). Committee members said they added SB 213 into HB 2028 to "protect the Senate position" after SB 213 passed the Senate 38‑1, and to keep the topic before the Legislature.

Sunset and reporting requirements

Committee members agreed to a three‑year sunset applying to the changes in the bill to KSA 32‑939 (the section that governs days when nonresidents may hunt migratory waterfowl). The committee discussed making the sunset effective July 1, 2028, so the Legislature could revisit it in the 2028 session.

The committee also directed the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to provide reports about the effect of the migratory waterfowl limitation. Committee discussion set reporting dates of Jan. 31, 2026, and Jan. 31, 2027. The reports were described as data‑driven summaries of metrics Wildlife and Parks already collects (for example, numbers of stamps sold to residents and nonresidents and other harvest and participation data), not a full economic impact model.

Committee discussion and context

Mike, addressing the committee, summarized the bill’s evolution: "House Bill 2028 as it left the House ... basically renewed [an expired section] and ... struck a provision that the ... kids lifetime combination hunting would expire." He described the Senate adjustments to the youth license age groups and amounts, and noted addition of SB 213 dealing with migratory waterfowl.

Members who said they favored keeping a lower price for very young children argued that a $300 tier for children 5 and under is an incentive grandparents or family members sometimes buy early as a gift. Other members said making the younger bracket separate would encourage early purchase and maintain recruitment incentives.

Committee members also discussed migratory waterfowl stamp fees. During the discussion staff and members referenced increases in the migratory waterfowl habitat stamp, noting the bill text moved the minimum from $8 and that committee discussion included resident and nonresident stamp amounts. One committee member summarized the bill language as increasing a resident migratory waterfowl stamp from $8 to $20 and increasing the nonresident rate to $100; the committee recorded that there had been little committee discussion on that specific fee change.

Several members pressed for data to evaluate whether the nonresident restriction would materially affect local businesses such as hotels, lodges and restaurants that serve out‑of‑state hunters. One member summarized long‑term participation trends presented during earlier hearings, noting that waterfowl license purchasers have shifted over time from predominantly in‑state to a larger share of nonresidents in recent years.

What the committee did not decide

There was no formal recorded roll‑call vote in the conference meeting transcript. Committee members framed the agreement as a negotiated amendment to HB 2028, and staff confirmed the conference committee reached consensus on the items described above. The transcript records no final enacted language; sections, effective dates and exact statutory wording remain subject to drafting.

Next steps

Committee staff indicated they will prepare the conference committee amendment language reflecting: the two youth lifetime license tiers and prices; insertion of SB 213’s nonresident migratory waterfowl day limits into HB 2028; the three‑year sunset on those nonresident day limits (targeting July 1, 2028); and reporting requirements for the Department of Wildlife and Parks with due dates of Jan. 31, 2026, and Jan. 31, 2027. The committee adjourned after confirming those points.

Ending note

Committee staff and members repeatedly emphasized that the requested Wildlife and Parks report should rely primarily on data the agency already collects, and that the reports will inform whether the Legislature should remove or extend the sunset when the matter returns to a future session.