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State of
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JENNIFER M. GRANHOLM governor |
DEPARTMENT
OF NATURAL RESOURCES |
REBECCA A. HUMPHRIES director |
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State of
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JENNIFER M. GRANHOLM governor |
DEPARTMENT
OF NATURAL RESOURCES |
REBECCA A. HUMPHRIES director |
POSITION
The Department cannot
support the legislation as written.
PROBLEM/BACKGROUND
Currently, non-profit, volunteer organizations operate
a program to collect donations of game which is then distributed to agencies
which provide food for the poor.
DESCRIPTION OF BILL
This bill would amend PA 451 of 1994 to require the
Department of Natural Resources to establish a program to collect donations of
and distribute wild game or other food to food banks, soup kitchens, and other
charitable organizations. It also
requires the Department to promote the program through the Retail Sales
System. The Department may also solicit
donations to support the program through the Retail Sales System.
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS
Pro
Currently, a similar
system is operated through a volunteer organization. Promotion through the license system may
improve public awareness and increase donations to help support the system.
Con
This function is
already performed through the private sector by non-profit organizations. Requiring the Department to operate the program
would increase costs and workload for a function that is not part of its core
mission at a time when the Department is facing significant budget
concerns. Although the bill allows the Department to
contract with a private, non-profit agency to operate the program, there will
be costs associated with staff time required to administer the contract and
programming charges for the e-license and Retail Sales Systems to provide for
the receipt and accurate tracking of the donations. In addition, the license agents would be
required to ask for a donation with each transaction, requiring additional time
and effort which would not be compensated through a commission payment. Goodwill would likely be damaged with some
agents. Since the network of license
agents are not Department employees and currently includes approximately 1600
different locations, it would be impossible for the Department to monitor agents
for compliance.
The
costs associated with receiving, storing, processing and distribution of game,
whether done by the Department or a contractor, are likely to be
considerable. While the bill allows for
the collection of donations, there is no way to be sure that these donations
would be adequate to cover the cost of this operation. There are no other sources of funding
available to the Department, other than General Fund, that would be appropriate
to support this project. The Department does
not have the necessary equipment or expertise to handle food items that will be
provided for public consumption. There
are liability issues that should be addressed before initiating such a program.
The
other important issue is the precedent that this program would establish in
using the State Retail Sales System to receive donations for a private
agency. This could result in additional
requests from other non-profit organizations to use the system for fundraising
purposes.
FISCAL/ECONOMIC
IMPACT
Are there revenue or
budgetary implications in the bill to the --
Budgetary:
The costs associated with operating the Sportsmen
Against Hunger program are likely to be considerable. There is not enough detail in the legislation
to identify all of the costs, but in the event that donations do not equal the
amount required to run the program, it could have a considerable negative
impact to the Department's budget.
Revenue:
None that are apparent.
Comments:
None.
Budgetary:
None.
Revenue:
None.
Comments:
None.
Comments:
None.
OTHER STATE DEPARTMENTS
ANY OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATION
This section could
include general comment on previous or similar bill introductions or similar
bill/statutes in other states.
ADMINISTRATIVE
RULES IMPACT
Rules can be
promulgated to provide for administration of the act.
_______________________________
Rebecca A.
Humphries
Director
_______________________________
Date
GCACS/BSS/WLD
