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Committee hears draft to raise wildlife and parks issuance fees statewide
Summary
Representative Blex asked the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources to introduce RS3178, a draft that would raise the county clerk/vendor issuance fee from $1 to $2 and double the waterfowl stamp fee to $1 to help vendors cover card-processing costs; staff said the change would apply statewide under the statute cited in the transcript.
Representative Blex urged the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources to introduce RS3178, a draft bill she said would raise the service fee collected by county clerks and their vendors for wildlife and parks issuances.
"It would go from a dollar to $2 on the issuance of fee and on the waterfowl stamp, it'd be 50¢ to a dollar," Representative Blex said, arguing vendors and county clerks are losing money when customers pay by credit card.
The proposal, as discussed, would apply to county clerks and their vendors statewide under the statute cited in the transcript (referred to there as "32 9 8 9"). Representative Mosher asked whether the change would be statewide; Blex and staff confirmed the statute covers county clerks and vendors across the state.
Blex said vendors currently face processing costs — she noted a 2.75% card fee example — that make issuing nonresident hunting licenses loss-making when the statutory vendor fee is limited to $1. The draft would increase the flat fee to better cover those costs rather than adopting a percentage-based charge, she said.
The committee chair recorded the RS3178 draft as a request for introduction as an agriculture committee bill. No formal vote was recorded during the session; the request for introduction was entered for scheduling and future committee consideration.
Next steps: RS3178 was entered as a request for introduction and will be scheduled for a formal hearing at a later committee meeting.
