Smaller FG fee bill to be heard

The Senate Resources Committee agreed today to hear a Fish & Game fee hike proposal that’s been whittled down from an earlier one; the bill will be presented to a privileged committee for introduction, then return to the Resources Committee for a hearing. The new bill would raise about $5.1 million a year more in license, tag and permit fees next year; it’d take effect April 15, so it’d also raise about $1.27 million in the final quarter of fiscal year 2009. Idaho’s Fish and Game fees haven’t gone up since July of 2005.

If approved, 71 percent of the new fees would go to balancing the budget for existing services, and 29 percent to “program enhancements desired by sportsmen,” according to the bill’s statement of purpose. Under the bill, the current $31.75 combination license for residents wouldn’t go up at all, but non-resident combo licenses would rise from $198 to $238.25. Various other tags and permits also would rise; a resident moose tag, for instance, would go up from $165 to $194, while a non-resident moose tag would rise from $1,750 to $2,100.