WDFW Vehicle Access Pass Legislation 3/11 Update

[bigtex]

This IS going to be an uphill battle 1) there is currently only one sponsor to this bill, usually the more sponsors the better the chance the bill has of passing 2) there is going to be a significant amount of loss revenue, where are they going to make that up at?

A few years ago, I didn't have to pay for a pass to go to these areas.  Now, I do.  That results in a significant (for me) loss of funds . .  where am I going to make up for that?

Unfortunately "pay to play" is the name of the game now days. I know I'll be bashed for this, but compared to how much we spend every year on licenses, gear, food for trips, gas for scouting, and hunting trips, $30 for a Discover Pass wasn't much. Considering $30 probably gives me less then a 1/3 of a tank of gas.

[Bob33]

This IS going to be an uphill battle 1) there is currently only one sponsor to this bill, usually the more sponsors the better the chance the bill has of passing 2) there is going to be a significant amount of loss revenue, where are they going to make that up at?

A few years ago, I didn't have to pay for a pass to go to these areas.  Now, I do.  That results in a significant (for me) loss of funds . .  where am I going to make up for that?

Unfortunately, this represents well the government mindset: they can take endless amounts of money from private citizens with little concern about how it affects the citizens' budgets, but when someone talks about government reducing their revenues from citizens they scream bloody murder.

[Bob33]

This IS going to be an uphill battle 1) there is currently only one sponsor to this bill, usually the more sponsors the better the chance the bill has of passing 2) there is going to be a significant amount of loss revenue, where are they going to make that up at?

A few years ago, I didn't have to pay for a pass to go to these areas.  Now, I do.  That results in a significant (for me) loss of funds . .  where am I going to make up for that?

Unfortunately "pay to play" is the name of the game now days. I know I'll be bashed for this, but compared to how much we spend every year on licenses, gear, food for trips, gas for scouting, and hunting trips, $30 for a Discover Pass wasn't much. Considering $30 probably gives me less then a 1/3 of a tank of gas.

Come on, Bigtex. You know very well that's just the tip of the iceberg. Sure, it's only $30 for a Discover Pass, but it's also an extra 2% hit on payroll effective January 1: $1000 on a $50000 salary. It's an extra $1,700 per year to commute across the 520 Bridge in Seattle. It's an $1/gallon for milk. It's a 15% increase in utility bills. Closer to home i's $66 for a second deer tag that used to be $22, and allowed for "any deer" rather than a doe.

The list goes on and on. It's not JUST $30.

[Gringo31]

 

.....because we nickle and dime you on so many other things, a few more pennies is no big deal right?

I like the Legislation and if there is going to be revenue shortfalls because of this?  Double or tripple the cost of the discover pass.  Many of us spend over $100/year on just tags and licenses already, if they want to PLAY....they can PAY what we do.

[huntrights]

Higher fees and taxes to accommodate out-of-control Government spending is NOT the answer.  The Government needs to cut back and budget like the rest of us have had to do.

[gaddy]

& not just the 30 bucks, but how those funds were distributed.

[bigtex]

This IS going to be an uphill battle 1) there is currently only one sponsor to this bill, usually the more sponsors the better the chance the bill has of passing 2) there is going to be a significant amount of loss revenue, where are they going to make that up at?

A few years ago, I didn't have to pay for a pass to go to these areas.  Now, I do.  That results in a significant (for me) loss of funds . .  where am I going to make up for that?

Unfortunately "pay to play" is the name of the game now days. I know I'll be bashed for this, but compared to how much we spend every year on licenses, gear, food for trips, gas for scouting, and hunting trips, $30 for a Discover Pass wasn't much. Considering $30 probably gives me less then a 1/3 of a tank of gas.

Come on, Bigtex. You know very well that's just the tip of the iceberg. Sure, it's only $30 for a Discover Pass, but it's also an extra 2% hit on payroll effective January 1: $1000 on a $50000 salary. It's an extra $1,700 per year to commute across the 520 Bridge in Seattle. It's an $1/gallon for milk. It's a 15% increase in utility bills. Closer to home i's $66 for a second deer tag that used to be $22, and allowed for "any deer" rather than a doe.

The list goes on and on. It's not JUST $30.

The extra 2% hit on payroll was there several years ago, it was just eliminated for the past 2/3 years (http://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2013/01/02/4-important-2013-payroll-updates-tax-changes-for-small-business/). 
Ya, everything costs more to do, but hey it cost more to do things in the 70's then it did in the 60's. I am pretty sure we all make significantly more then we did in the 1970s.

I'm not saying that it doesn't suck to have to pay more to do X or Y. But the whole idea of it's the current federal administration or the state, etc fault that things costs more is nuts. Fees, charges, etc have gone up every few years for everything in every state, doesn't matter if its a Democrat or Republican in the office. I didn't see too many Republicans trying to keep the 2% payroll tax cut from being eliminated...

[pianoman9701]

Email to Sen. Don Benton:

Hi Don,

Currently, hunters in WA purchase their hunting license and part of that fee gives them a vehicle pass. It used to be that vehicle pass covered the state's hunters on all state lands, WDFW, DNR, and state forest. Now, with the Discover Pass, the state's hunters are only allowed to use the vehicle pass for WDFW lands and must additionally purchase a Discover pass to access DNR and state forest lands. We're being double taxed to pay for the WA State Parks system when we're not allowed to hunt in state parks. This makes zero sense.

Under Bill 5080, our WDFW vehicle tabs would cover us on all state lands EXCEPT inside state parks, where, if we wanted to use the parks, we'd have to pay to play. This makes a huge amount of sense.

Please support this bill. I know you're a sportsman's friend and I look forward to hearing your views on this. Thank you,
John W

[bigtex]

.....because we nickle and dime you on so many other things, a few more pennies is no big deal right?

I like the Legislation and if there is going to be revenue shortfalls because of this?  Double or tripple the cost of the discover pass.  Many of us spend over $100/year on just tags and licenses already, if they want to PLAY....they can PAY what we do.

Under Gregoire's proposed budget, the shortfall Parks is already getting from missed revenue from Discover Pass sales is being replaced by general fund money. When the Discover Pass was created it was to eliminate general fund funding of Parks, that funding is now slowly coming back.

[Bob33]

Bigtex, tell us truthfully: has your salary increased at the same rate that the state government's budget has (forgetting merit or change in responsibility)? What cuts have they made to their lifestyle?

[bigtex]

It used to be that vehicle pass covered the state's hunters on all state lands, WDFW, DNR, and state forest. Now, with the Discover Pass, the state's hunters are only allowed to use the vehicle pass for WDFW lands and must additionally purchase a Discover pass to access DNR and state forest lands. We're being double taxed to pay for the WA State Parks system when we're not allowed to hunt in state parks. This makes zero sense.

Thats false. Prior to Discover Pass the WDFW pass was ONLY used on WDFW lands. There was no pass for DNR or State Parks. FYI, "state forest" is DNR.

[bigtex]

Bigtex, tell us truthfully: has your salary increased at the same rate that the state government's budget has (forgetting merit or change in responsibility)? What cuts have they made to their lifestyle?

State employees have seen a 3% salary cut since either the 09 or 11 budgets were enacted.

Federal employees have had their salaries frozen since 09 or 11 as well.

And yes, it "hurts" more to pay a bill or fill the gas tank. Maybe a full day in the woods ends up being a half day.

[Bob33]

Bigtex, tell us truthfully: has your salary increased at the same rate that the state government's budget has (forgetting merit or change in responsibility)? What cuts have they made to their lifestyle?

State employees have seen a 3% salary cut since either the 09 or 11 budgets were enacted.

Federal employees have had their salaries frozen since 09 or 11 as well.

And yes, it "hurts" more to pay a bill or fill the gas tank. Maybe a full day in the woods ends up being a half day.

Since the overall budget is increasing, the money is obviously going somewhere other than to the employees. That is unfortunate.

[bigtex]

Bigtex, tell us truthfully: has your salary increased at the same rate that the state government's budget has (forgetting merit or change in responsibility)? What cuts have they made to their lifestyle?

State employees have seen a 3% salary cut since either the 09 or 11 budgets were enacted.

Federal employees have had their salaries frozen since 09 or 11 as well.

And yes, it "hurts" more to pay a bill or fill the gas tank. Maybe a full day in the woods ends up being a half day.

Since the overall budget is increasing, the money is obviously going somewhere other than to the employees. That is unfortunate.

Hate to sound like a politician but it does cost more to operate things. Gas is going up/down depending on the month. WDFW Enforcement asked for more money in the state budget simply because they fear they don't have enough to cover fuel expenses. The number of overall employees in DNR, Parks, WDFW has decreased substantially, especially Parks where many full time employees went to part time. Budgets go up but you also need to filter in inflation. The state is looking at nearly a $1B shortfall for the 2013-15 budget but yet DNR, DFW, and Parks are looking at a proposed budget increase in Gregoires budget.

[pianoman9701]

It used to be that vehicle pass covered the state's hunters on all state lands, WDFW, DNR, and state forest. Now, with the Discover Pass, the state's hunters are only allowed to use the vehicle pass for WDFW lands and must additionally purchase a Discover pass to access DNR and state forest lands. We're being double taxed to pay for the WA State Parks system when we're not allowed to hunt in state parks. This makes zero sense.

Thats false. Prior to Discover Pass the WDFW pass was ONLY used on WDFW lands. There was no pass for DNR or State Parks. FYI, "state forest" is DNR.

Yes, it's inaccurate only in there was no fee to access any of those lands. No there's an extra fee for all of it. The point is the same. Thank you for the correction, BT