CT passes saltwater license - first in NE...
 

On Jun 4, 11:21*am, Wizard of Woodstock wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/rd4w9n

"House Bill 5857 overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives
and now waits an expected similar vote from the Senate. During this
time of budget crunch, it’s hard to imagine revenues generated from
sal****er licensing will be voted down or vetoed by our governor.
Costs to a Connecticut resident angler will be $10 (65 and over, free)
and non-residents $15—separate from regular fishing/hunting licenses.
Party boat anglers will be exempt from fees."

There's a storm abrewing over the Party boat clause - apparently it's
only for large boats - 35 or more passengers - all others will require
a license to fish CT waters.

The small charter boat operators are frothing at the mouth about that.

This happened very quickly - I first heard about it on Monday when the
rumors started flying. I've been involved from the start on this as
both my State Rep and Senator are on the committee that wrote the bill
and I've actually presented my concerns to them and both the Speaker
and President Pro Tempore who I also happen to know personally.

Fortunately, this is a good bill and will recognize reciprocity in
neighboring states which was a major concern of mine - I would have
preferred a regional license for more money and sequestration of the
money to the various DEP departments, but you can't have everything.


Correct me if I am wrong but is this legislation in response to some
federal mandate to have a state level sport fishing "Registration"
system. I can see the states being forced to comply with a federal
mandate but is this going beyond a simple registration fee into some
sort of money grab?

CT passes saltwater license - first in NE...
 

Wizard of Woodstock wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/rd4w9n

"House Bill 5857 overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives
and now waits an expected similar vote from the Senate. During this
time of budget crunch, it?s hard to imagine revenues generated from
sal****er licensing will be voted down or vetoed by our governor.
Costs to a Connecticut resident angler will be $10 (65 and over, free)
and non-residents $15?separate from regular fishing/hunting licenses.
Party boat anglers will be exempt from fees."

There's a storm abrewing over the Party boat clause - apparently it's
only for large boats - 35 or more passengers - all others will require
a license to fish CT waters.

The small charter boat operators are frothing at the mouth about that.

This happened very quickly - I first heard about it on Monday when the
rumors started flying. I've been involved from the start on this as
both my State Rep and Senator are on the committee that wrote the bill
and I've actually presented my concerns to them and both the Speaker
and President Pro Tempore who I also happen to know personally.

Fortunately, this is a good bill and will recognize reciprocity in
neighboring states which was a major concern of mine - I would have
preferred a regional license for more money and sequestration of the
money to the various DEP departments, but you can't have everything.

There will be many more taxes, on Citizens to replace the losses, repair
the damages, and repay the bailout, of Wall Street and Global Business
and Banking. Let's hear it for shipping our jobs off shore, and global
corporate welfare on Americans' backs.