SB2160 would create a new Hunter Food Bank Stamp program and a corresponding Hunter Food Bank Fund to support food banks and other free-food providers that purchase venison from processors or butchers using deer donated by hunters. The bill also directs the Department of Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Natural Resources, to award grants for that purpose and to adopt implementing rules. In addition, it makes conforming changes to the State Finance Act so stamp revenue and related donations are deposited into the new fund.
The bill also amends the Wildlife Code to expand and streamline several deer-management and deer-damage provisions. It would require the Department of Natural Resources to offer the optional $10 Hunter Food Bank Stamp wherever deer permits or licenses are sold, publicize the program, and use the revenue only for the food-bank venison program. It would also change rules for separate deer harvest periods, require counties to be opened for special harvests when more than five deer removal permit requests were made there in the prior year, allow unused firearm deer permits to be transferred for antlerless hunting on a landowner’s land during a separate harvest period, and revise deer removal permit procedures by requiring online applications, quick acknowledgment and decision deadlines, deemed approval if the Department misses the deadline, and a permit validity period through December 31 of the issuance year.
Impact
SB2160 would add a new funding stream and administrative framework for venison donation and food-bank distribution, while also changing how the Department of Natural Resources manages deer hunting and deer-damage permits. It would amend the Human Services Act, the Wildlife Code, and the State Finance Act, creating the Hunter Food Bank Fund and directing state agencies to administer grants, stamp sales, and permit procedures under new statutory requirements. Affected parties would include hunters, deer permit holders, landowners and tenants dealing with deer damage, food banks, meat processors and butchers, and the Department of Human Services and Department of Natural Resources.
Sentiment
No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no direct evidence of floor or committee sentiment. Based on the bill text, the measure appears generally pro-hunting, pro-agriculture, and anti-hunger, combining wildlife management with food assistance. The overall framing suggests a positive, practical approach intended to encourage hunter participation in food donation and to make deer-damage permitting more responsive.
Contention
The main points of potential contention are the bill’s new mandates on state agencies and its changes to deer-management authority. Hunters and conservation stakeholders may support the food-bank stamp and venison donation program, but some may question the added fee, the administrative burden, or whether the new fund is the best use of hunting-related revenue. Landowners and agricultural interests may favor the faster deer-removal permit process and expanded special harvest access, while wildlife managers or conservation advocates may be concerned about the automatic approval provision, the shortened permit timeline, and the rule that opens counties to special harvest periods based on permit-request volume rather than broader population or ecological criteria.