Spring Legislative Session Concludes, Pro-Hunting & Angling Bills Headed to Gov

[Lipripper]

Posted on Friday, June 15, 2018

By Joel Hodgdon, Central Midwestern States Coordinator

On May 31, the Illinois General Assembly finished its spring legislative sessions and is now in recess until mid-November.

Thanks to the support of the bipartisan Illinois Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, several pieces of positive hunting and fishing legislation are on their way to Governors Sportsmen's Caucus Member Governor Bruce Rauner who has 60 days to sign or veto the bills. These bills include:

HB 4231* – Authorizes hunters to wear blaze pink colored clothing in lieu of blaze orange in certain hunting seasons.
HB 4783 – Amends the Wildlife Code to make various improvements to youth hunting and trapping requirements, including combining youth hunting and trapping licensing, defining youth to be "under 18" when it comes to youth hunting and trapping programs, allowing youth with a hunting license to be accompanied by any adult with a valid hunting license over the age of 21 instead of only allowing youth hunting with a parent, guardian, or grandparent, and other improvements.
HB 5317 – Sponsored by Illinois Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus Co-Chair and NASC Executive Council Alternate Representative Jerry Costello II, this legislation increases the fines for illegally taken wildlife. For example, fines for illegally taken white-tailed deer will increase from $250 to $1000 and fines for an illegally harvested wild turkey will be raised from $250 to $500.
HB 5440 – States the fee for both resident and nonresident youth archery deer permits shall be the same.
HB 5693 – Allows trappers to use their Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IL DNR) number instead of personal information on the trap for privacy reasons. Currently, trappers in Illinois are required to put their names and addresses on their traps.
SB 2295 – Allows for fishing licenses and a combination license to be displayed either electronically or as a paper copy.
SB 2493 – Directs two Illinois universities, in consultation with the IL DNR, to conduct a five-year study on the health and social effects of supplemental deer feeding on the state's wild deer population. The study will be conducted outside of hunting seasons and will also determine if supplemental deer feeding increases the risk of disease transmission, such as Chronic Wasting Disease, in Illinois's deer population.
Illinois' 1.3 million hunters and anglers spend over $2.34 billion annually on their outdoor pursuits. This spending supports close to 32,000 jobs. In 2017 alone, Illinois hunters and anglers contributed over $64 million towards conservation funding in the state.