Bill Text: NH HB647 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to the fee for a newborn lifetime hunting and fishing license.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Republican 11-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-22 - Public Hearing: 02/05/2025 01:30 pm Legislative Office Building 307 [HB647 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2025-HB647-Introduced.html
HB 647-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2025 SESSION
25-0083
08/06
HOUSE BILL 647-FN
AN ACT relative to the fee for a newborn lifetime hunting and fishing license.
SPONSORS: Rep. Spillane, Rock. 2; Rep. Darby, Hills. 11; Rep. Love, Rock. 13; Rep. Popovici-Muller, Rock. 17; Rep. Potucek, Rock. 13; Rep. Ulery, Hills. 13; Rep. Coker, Belk. 2; Rep. Khan, Rock. 30; Rep. Gagne, Hills. 16; Sen. Innis, Dist 7; Sen. McGough, Dist 11; Sen. Sullivan, Dist 18
COMMITTEE: Fish and Game and Marine Resources
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ANALYSIS
This bill allows the director of the fish and game commission to set the rate for lifetime hunting and fishing licenses for newborns through regulations.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
25-0083
08/06
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
AN ACT relative to the fee for a newborn lifetime hunting and fishing license.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Lifetime Licenses; Newborns. Amend RSA 214:9-c, I(b)(2) to read as follows:
(2) In addition further, the executive director may issue discounted lifetime licenses to residents who have not yet reached their first birthday. The executive director shall establish the discounted amount of such lifetime licenses in rules adopted under RSA 541-A, except that the fee for a combination hunting and freshwater fishing lifetime license for a resident who has not yet reached his or her first birthday shall be [$300] set by the executive director prescribed in paragraph II.
2 Lifetime Licenses; Newborns. Amend RSA 214:9-c, II to read as follows:
II. The executive director shall obtain an actuarial table based on an appropriate annuity from the commissioner of insurance and shall set the fee for the various licenses, including newborns, annually on July 15 of each year for the following year based on the age of the applicant. The fee for any applicant under 16 years of age shall be the same as the fee for a 16-year-old applicant, except for newborns[ as provided in subparagraph I(b)(2)] which shall be set by the executive director. In addition the applicant shall pay the agent's fee in accordance with RSA 214-A:4.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
25-0083
1/11/25
HB 647-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to the fee for a newborn lifetime hunting and fishing license.
FISCAL IMPACT:
|
| |||||
Estimated State Impact | ||||||
| FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | ||
Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | ||||
Revenue Fund(s) | Fish and Game Lifetime License Fund (RSA 214:9-c) | |||||
Expenditures* | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | None | |||||
Appropriations* | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | None | |||||
*Expenditure = Cost of bill *Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill | ||||||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill replaces the $300 fee for a lifetime combination hunting and fishing license for residents under the age of one year (“newborn license”) with authority for the executive director to establish the fee through administrative rulemaking. The Department assumes the fee for such licenses will increase significantly, when determined actuarially as required by the bill. The Department also assumes that such an increase will serve to reduce the number of such licenses sold annually. Ultimately, the Department cannot estimate what impact the increased license fee will have on revenue, though the expectation is this bill will result in a net increase.
For informational purposes, in 2023 the Department sold 1,092 newborn licenses at $304.50 each (which includes the required habitat surcharge and agent fee), for a total of $332,514. For comparison, a lifetime license for residents 1 year to 16 years is $1,564.80.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Fish and Game Department
