PHEASANT HUNTING LICENSE; EXTEND SUNSET S.B. 803:
SUMMARY OF INTRODUCED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
Senate Bill 803 (as introduced 4-9-24)
Committee: Natural Resources and Agriculture
CONTENT
The bill would amend Part 435 (Hunting and Fishing Licensing) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to extend, from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2031, the requirement that a person purchase an annual pheasant hunting license to hunt pheasants in the State and the way that license revenue is used.
Under the Act, an individual 18 years of age or older may not hunt pheasants without a current annual pheasant hunting license. The fee for a license is $25 and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) must deposit the fee collected for each license into the Pheasant Subaccount of the Game and Fish Protection Account. Except for requirements that certain amounts of the license fee be retained by an authorized seller or deposited into the Wildlife Resource Protection Fund, money in the Pheasant Subaccount must be spent, upon appropriation, only for the costs associated with the purchase and release of live pheasants on State-owned land suitable for pheasants. Additionally, money in the Pheasant Subaccount on January 1, 2026, must be transferred to the Game and Fish Protection Account. The above provisions sunset on January 1, 2026.
The bill would extend the sunset to January 1, 2031, and would specify that the money in the subaccount on January 1, 2031, would be transferred to the Game and Fish Protection Account.
MCL 324.43525c Legislative Analyst: Eleni Lionas
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have a positive fiscal impact for the DNR. The bill would allow for continued collection of the $25 pheasant hunting license fees, which equate to approximately $175,000 annually. This fee revenue is deposited into the Pheasant Subaccount of the Game and Fish Protection Account. Current law ends the collection of these fees on January 1, 2026. This bill would extend the fee collection for five years, ending in 2031. Assuming that fee revenue remained consistent, this would total roughly $875,000 in revenue over five years.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.