Provides relative to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' annual duck stamps (EN SEE FISC NOTE SD RV)
Summary
HB204 amends Louisiana law governing the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ annual duck stamps. The bill removes the existing statutory stamp fees for both resident and nonresident duck stamps, while leaving in place the department’s authority to create, market, distribute, and sell duck stamps and duck stamp prints by regulation. It also preserves the provision that purchasing a duck stamp does not itself authorize a person to hunt, take, possess, or transport ducks in Louisiana.
The measure keeps the department’s exclusive ownership and production rights over the stamp design and related prints, including the ability to sell them to hunters, collectors, and other interested persons. The original artwork must still be returned to the artist after the process is completed. In practical terms, the bill shifts the pricing structure for duck stamps away from a fixed fee set in statute and toward a fee structure no longer specified in the amended law.
Impact
HB204 directly amends R.S. 56:153, the statute governing the design, marketing, and sale of duck stamps and prints. By deleting the resident and nonresident duck stamp prices from the law, it removes the statutory fee schedule and changes how the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries may set or administer duck stamp pricing. The bill affects duck hunters, collectors, and others who purchase duck stamps or prints, as well as the department’s revenue and administrative authority over the program.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House 93-0 and the Senate 38-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. No committee transcript was provided, but the voting history suggests general agreement with the bill’s approach to duck stamp administration and fee removal.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record. The main policy issue is the removal of fixed resident and nonresident duck stamp fees from statute, which could raise questions about future pricing authority and revenue implications for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. However, the unanimous votes suggest that any such concerns were not significant enough to generate recorded dissent.