2/3/2011
CHARLESTON — The third time may be a charm for a pet project of the Division of Natural Resources — a special, one-time license for senior hunters and anglers.
The cost of the license is $25.
The benefits to the state include thousands of dollars in federal taxes that now go to other states and a projected economic jolt when seniors use the licenses to buy goods and services at discounted rates.
The benefits to seniors are priceless, according to Delegate Larry Williams, D-Preston, chairman of the Senior Citizen Issues Committee.
Williams outlined his bill Wednesday before its 66-32 passage in the House.
“I think everybody wins,” he said.
Anyone age 65 before New Year’s Day in 2012 is grandfathered in, but everyone else would be required to buy the lifetime license for a one-time fee of $25.
Williams said the state has been sacrificing money under the federal Robinson-Pittman Act that spreads taxes collected on the sale of outdoor gear and based on the number of licenses.
Only states with a mandatory senior license are eligible, the delegate said, and this year’s projected loss of $5.25 per license is actually almost double that figure.
Moreover, he said, seniors could use the card to get discounts at various commercial outlets and, in the process, improve the economy.
Delegate Rick Moye, D-Raleigh, joined others in fighting a Republican-led amendment to make the license optional.
“It guts the intent of this bill,” Moye said of the amendment, sponsored chiefly by freshman Delegate Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer.
“If we pass this amendment, then the bill has no purpose any more. We will not be gaining the federal monies we would be getting otherwise. They’ll be going to other states.”
Gearheart allowed that many seniors may elect to buy the special license.
“However, I believe many seniors may wish to maintain their current right to hunt and fish for free,” he said.
Gearheart was joined by three other new Republican delegates in supporting the amendment, which failed 32-66, largely along party lines.
Gearheart disputed the value of attracting federal dollars by forcing seniors to buy the license.
A DNR official told him before the floor session that a conservative estimate held the money would be $36,000 a year, Gearheart said.
“But we’re asking our seniors to pay $75,000 a year,” he said.
“It doesn’t seem to make sense to me to remove an option that’s currently there. Choice is the way to go.”
But even Delegate Joe Talbott, D-Webster, once a strident foe of the concept, opposed the amendment and said the bill is one that benefits seniors.
Williams told Delegate Margaret Staggers, D-Fayette, that it’s unlikely the federal rebate would ever disappear, since it is based on taxes on outdoor gear.
If the money dried up, she had wondered, would the state abandon the mandatory senior license?
Williams advised another lawmaker, Delegate Linda Longstreth, D-Marion, that money returned by the federal government is used to enhance a number of outdoor pursuits, such as stocking trout streams, snapping up more private property for public hunting and building shooting ranges.
“The benefits far outweigh the cost to seniors,” Williams said.
Contact Information
Mannix Porterfield, Register-Herald Reporter
mannix@register-herald.com