ANNUAL PHEASANT HUNTING LICENSE H.B. 4313 (H-2):
SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
House Bill 4313 (Substitute H-2 as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Gary Howell
House Committee: Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation
Judiciary
Senate Committee: Natural Resources
CONTENT
The bill would amend Part 435 (Hunting and Fishing Licensing) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to do the following:
-- Prohibit an individual 16 years of age or older from hunting pheasants without a current annual pheasant hunting license.
-- Prescribe a $25 fee for an annual pheasant hunting license.
-- Specify certain circumstances under which an individual could hunt pheasant without an annual pheasant hunting license.
-- Create the pheasant subaccount within the Game and Fish Protection account.
-- Require 75% of each license fee to be deposited in the pheasant subaccount while the remaining 25% of each fee would be deposited into the Game and Fish Protection account to be used for the restoration or enhancement of State-owned lands managed for the benefit of pheasants.
The bill would be repealed effective January 1, 2026.
Currently, an individual is required to have a base license to hunt small game. The bill, except as otherwise provided, would prohibit an individual 16 years of age or older from hunting pheasants without a current annual pheasant hunting license. The pheasant hunting license requirement would be in addition to the requirement for a base license. The fee for the pheasant hunting license would be $25.
If the license were issued as a stamp, a pheasant hunting license would have to be affixed to the individual's base license and signed across the face of the stamp by the license holder. A collector could purchase a pheasant hunting license, if it were issued as a stamp, without having to place it on a base license, signed across its face, or provide proof of competency under Section 43520(2) of the Act. However, this license would not be valid for hunting pheasants. (Section 43520(2) generally prohibits authorized sellers of hunting licenses from issuing a license to an individual born after January 1, 1960, unless he or she presents proof of previous hunting experience in the form of a hunting license issued by Michigan, another state, a province of Canada, or another country, or in the form of a hunter safety certificate.)
An individual only hunting pheasants at a licensed game bird hunting preserve or on land owned by that individual or by his or her parent, child, or spouse would not have to obtain an annual pheasant hunting license.
The bill would create the pheasant subaccount in the Game and Fish Protection account. The State Treasurer could receive money or other assets from any source for deposit into the subaccount. The Treasurer would have to direct the investment of the subaccount and credit to it any interest and earning from subaccount investments. Money in the subaccount at the close of the fiscal year would remain in the subaccount and would not lapse to the Game and Fish Protection account or the General Fund. Money in the subaccount on January 1, 2026, would be transferred to the Game and Fish Protection account. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would be the administrator of the subaccount for auditing purposes. The DNR would have to spend money from the subaccount, upon appropriation, only to release live pheasants on State-owned land suitable for pheasants.
From the $25 fee collected for each license, the DNR would have to deposit 75% of each license fee in the pheasant subaccount of the Game and Fish Protection account, and 25% of each license fee in the Game and Fish Protection Account to be used to restore or enhance State-owned lands to be managed for the benefit of pheasants.
MCL 324.101 et al. Legislative Analyst: Dana Adams
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have a positive fiscal impact on the Department of Natural Resources and no fiscal impact on local units of government. The bill would create the Pheasant Subaccount of the Game and Fish Protection Account and fund the account through a $25 pheasant hunting license. Seventy-five percent of the funds in the Subaccount would have to be used to release live pheasants on State land that is suitable for pheasants and 25% of the funds would have to be used to restore or enhance State land for the benefit of pheasants. The amount of revenue that would be generated under the bill is unknown, but a DNR study conducted in 2019 estimated that about 23,200 hunters hunted pheasants in 2015. If all of those hunters purchased a license, the revenue would be about $580,000 annually. However, the bill would exempt hunters on their own land, land of a family member's, or private game preserves from the requirement to purchase a license, so the actual amount generated likely would be considerably less than that amount.
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.