A Call to
Action on Fish & Game Funding
By BOB HARRIS
Outdoors and Free
Friday, Mar. 2, 2007
As readers might recall, last December I wrote about the financial crisis that our Fish and Game Department is facing and that we needed to help them through support of various legislative venues. I attended several meetings and signed in favor of HB-376-FNA, to provide 4% of the General Fund’s portion of the Rooms and Meals Tax to support the
N.H. Fish and Game Department. As this bill was presented, this would yield about 4.6 Million dollars to Fish and Game in the first year and would help keep Fish and Game an independent agency, as it always has been.
I recently received an e-mail from friend Don McGinley, who is very active and supportive of our Fish and Game Department. He received an e-mail from Rep. Dennis
Vachon, concerning HB-376-FNA. Vachon said that the Ways and Means Committee voted HB-376-FNA as "Inexpedient to Legislate" and recommended it be voted DEAD as scheduled for the upcoming March 7 House session. However, Rep. Dennis
Vachon, intends to offer an amendment to the bill on the House Floor to add .25% to the current Room and Meals Tax and provide
N.H. Fish and Game with 3% of the total, which would provide an estimated $3.6 Million in the first fiscal year to the Fish and Game budget.
Vachon stated that he believes the biggest problem the Ways and Means Committee currently has with HB-376-FNA is that they would have to take a "piece of the pie" away from some other agency in order to give anything to
N.H. Fish and Game.
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Don McGinley said, "Taking from Peter to pay Paul, is always a difficult decision for any legislative committee to make. As such, I believe that Rep. Dennis Vachon’s floor amendment makes good sense and that serious consideration and support from all of New Hampshire’s sportsmen and women should be forthcoming on this." Don says that we should all e-mail the members of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Governor and our Representatives over this next week and ask them to please support HB-376-FNA, or the bill with Representative Dennis Vachon’s floor amendment attached, when it comes up for a vote in the
N.H. House on March 7th.
According to Representative Vachon, regardless of the Ways and Means Committee vote, rank-and-file House members have not yet had a chance to weigh in on HB-376-FNA, which is the best hope for this legislative session to raise the kind of money needed to help the dwindling Fish and Game Funds. The original bill would dedicate $4.7 million (4% of the state’s share of the Rooms and Meals tax) to the Fish and Game Fund. In spite of the overwhelming public support expressed for this bill, it has met resistance in the House because, as earlier stated, the Rooms and Meal Tax revenue is already being used on other state programs.
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That is why Representative Dennis Vachon is offering a floor amendment to raise the Rooms and Meals Tax by a quarter of one percent, increasing it to 8.25% and dedicating 3% of the state’s share of the increased Rooms and Meals Tax to the Fish and Game Fund. He stated that, "Small change, an increase of a nickel on a $20 meal or a quarter on a $100 hotel room, would provide $3.6 million a year for Fish and Game." We need to urge our legislators to support HB-376-FNA, either as originally proposed or as amended. Either approach would go a long way toward addressing the financial shortfall looming over our Fish and Game Department. To have either option, Legislators will first have to overturn the Ways and Means Committee’s vote of Inexpedient to Legislate. A successful vote on March 7 would allow HB-376-FNA to continue on to the Finance Committee for their review. If it passes with the amendment, Representative Vachon firmly believes it will have a better chance of success in Finance because it will be raising new money rather than relying on funds already dedicated for use in other programs.
Readers may find contact information for local representatives on the computer by going to: www.gencourt,state.nh.us/whosmyleg/nswhosmyleg/. All House members with e-mail addresses can be found at:
www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/email.asp. Let’s all support our state’s Fish and Game Department and write or e-mail our representatives and legislators concerning HB-376-FNA asking them to support it or Rep. Dennis Vachon’s floor amendment to it. But, don’t delay. Time is short and this issue is extremely important.
Bob Harris can be reached via e-mail at:
outwriter2@aol.com |
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