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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Nuñez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-22-07

1-30-07 HB 56/aHENRC

SHORT TITLE Combined Hunting and Fishing Licenses

SB

ANALYST Woods

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

REVENUE (dollars in thousands)

Estimated Revenue

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

FY09

NFI

($10.0) est.

($24.0) est. Recurring

Game

Protection Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Game and Fish (DGF)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HENRC Amendment

House Energy and Natural Resources Committee amendment to HB56 amends the legislation to

reflect the following language:

1. On page 10, between lines 13 and 14, insert the following new section to read:

"Section 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is

April 1, 2008."

House Bill 56/aHENRC – Page

2

The amendment adds no appropriation language to the bill.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 56 amends sections of NMSA 1978 to provide for an adjustment to issuance of

combined hunting and fishing licenses.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The Department of Game and Fish (DGF) predicts that this bill will likely have a slight negative

impact to revenue primarily caused by junior and senior hunters purchasing a discounted license

instead of paying full price; however, the department does not expect the revenue impact to be

significant. Moreover, the department has traditionally offered discounts for combination, junior

and senior license privileges, and the change in allocation of deer hunting opportunity on public

lands had the unintended consequence of causing customers to pay more than they had in the

past, or to pay for the deer portion of a combination license they could not use. This bill

provides an alternative that is not currently available.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DGF notes that this bill would amend sections of Chapter 17 NMSA 1978, to provide three

additional license types and sets fees for those license types. The bill makes this change to

address public concerns regarding the timing of the deer hunt drawings and the purchase of

hunting licenses. The current general hunting and fishing license type allows the holder to fish,

hunt small game and hunt deer. These annual licenses are available at the beginning of the

license year (April 1st) and many customers purchase the combination license to take advantage

of the discounted price. However, the draw process for deer hunts on public land does not take

place until late June. The current choice of license types limits a public land deer hunter to buy

the combination license and “gamble" that they will be successful in the draw, wait until the

drawing to purchase their license or to purchase the privileges individually and not take

advantage of the discount. The last option is the most expensive, especially for customers

eligible for the junior or senior licenses, as they are the most deeply discounted. DGF indicates

that this bill creates a new discounted license type that combines small game hunting and fishing,

but does not include deer hunting. This combination will allow customers the benefit of a money

saving combination license without having to miss the first 3 months of fishing season and will

still allow junior and senior deer hunters the ability to purchase a discounted deer license

subsequent to the hunt drawings.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DGF indicates that the bill will not create or reduce FTE, nor will it have any significant

administrative implications. However, it recommends that the effective date of the bill should be

delayed until April 1, 2008, as the licenses for the 2007-2008 license year have been ordered and

are already being printed for distribution to license vendors statewide by the beginning of the

license year, April 1, 2007. In addition, the rules and information booklets for the 2007-2008

license year have already been printed and distributed to the public.

BW/nt