Forget about that legislation that sought to double the fees for required invasive species stickers that Idaho sells for motorized and non-motorized boats each year to help fund its program to target invasive mussels and milfoil. Rep. Marc Gibbs, R-Grace, sponsor of HB 594, asked the House Resources Committee this afternoon to kill the bill, and they obliged unanimously.

Gibbs said further analysis showed that the state has enough money in the program now to keep it going for the next two years or so without raising the annual sticker fees, which currently are $10 for motorized boats, $22 for out-of-state motorized boats, and $7 for non-motorized vessels, including kayaks and canoes. HB 594 would have doubled all three of those fees. The program currently generates $1.2 million a year, Gibbs said; the proposal sought to double that to $2.4 million a year.

Gibbs said the current fee level, when combined with available fund balances, “should adequately or nearly adequately fund the same program in 2017 that we have outlined for this current year 2016. With that in mind, the need for a fee increase diminishes until the 2018 season.”

Rep. Terry Gestrin,  R-Donnelly, asked whether there’d still be sufficient funds to adequately protect against aquatic invasive species in Idaho; Gibbs said yes, so Gestrin moved to hold the bill in committee, and the motion passed. Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg, the committee chairman, said several people had signed up to testify on the fee-increase proposal, but with its demise, “Testimony won’t be needed on that bill.”