WDFW and the general fund

[Jack Diamond]

If the Governor can consolidate the agency's ,then the license and tag increases will go into the general fund and not back into WDFW, The Game commission with a total of $125,000 for all their expense's will be dissolved, and we will no longer have sportsman involvement in rulemaking.
The way I see it we need to contact our reps, and at least attempt to stop the WDFW from being consolidated.
Most here I assume would believe that the WDFW is self funding, however the citations and monetary fines go back to the state and not into WDFW coffers,under current law.

And maybe I don"t know anything either! Please enlighten me.

[WDFW-SUX]

the general fund already gets the WDFW revenue.

[runamuk]

oh she took the control of the money away from wdfw a while back puts the money in the general fund and then determines which of her minions and pets gets what 

[Huntbear]

oh she took the control of the money away from wdfw a while back puts the money in the general fund and then determines which of her minions and pets gets what 

Sounds like my wife.   

[Jack Diamond]

WDFW-SUX ,correct,modified my post,thanks

In viewing the price increase comments on another thread, If I were paying the increase for license and tags , and it (the increase) will not be going back into the game dept, whats the point?
I read Director Anderson's case for higher License fees, and how the license restructuring would raise an estimated 14.3 million to maintain hunting and fishing opportunities(his words). Estimates based on less purchasers? and what agency will gain the money? or as I believe the increases will go in the general fund.

[runamuk]

many years ago the washington lottery was promoted as all proceeds going to fund education...now you see little blurbs saying 10% or 20% of proceeds go to education......many moons agao a 10 cent tax on gas was gonna go to clean up the puget sound......what they say and what they do once they get the money are two very very different things....the people running this state and much of this country seem to be liars, greedy backstabbing liars....

[DoubleJ]

They are all guilty, even those that have yet to be elected.  Power corrupts.  Period.  Once they get into office, they are inundated with opportunity to turn corrupt.  After awhile, even the most upstanding elected official will take a kick back or vote in favor of a special interest.  It's human nature.  There is no stopping it.  It will never NOT be like this.

[Humptulips]

the general fund already gets the WDFW revenue.

Show me where that is true. WDFW gets recreational license revenue I thought. Fines and commercial licenses got to the general fund.

[winshooter88]

All license and tag proceeds go into the wildlife fund or the fish fund, only hydraulic permits and commercial license fees go to the general fund. This year the WDFW is asking the legislature to put the hydraulic permit fees and the commercial license fees into the wildlife and fish funds also. I'm not sure where fines and penalties go. The increased license and tag fees are not supposed to go into the general fund. In the last 2 years the department has lost approximately 37 million dollars from the general fund. The legislature saw what was in the wildlife fund and told the department to use the money from the wildlife fund as operating capitol and took that amount away from what the department gets from the general fund. This year they have been told to expect more funding cuts. This information is available in published form from the WDFW.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01086/wdfw01086.pdf

[bigtex]

All license and tag proceeds go into the wildlife fund or the fish fund, only hydraulic permits and commercial license fees go to the general fund. This year the WDFW is asking the legislature to put the hydraulic permit fees and the commercial license fees into the wildlife and fish funds also.

You are partially correct. There are a few recreational licenses that do not go into the Wildlife Fund, they go into the General Fund. Those licenses are Saltwater Fishing licenses and Razor Clam licenses. However WDFW is also asking the legislature to move those $ to the Wildlife Fund.

[Coldeadhands]

Since a high percentage of hunters also fish, I would like to suggest that you guys keep tabs (daily)  on a couple advocacy websites.

CCAPNW.ORG

PugetSound Anglers
 
No commission is perfect, but losing it, will hand control of the dept over to the governor and to the tribes and commercial fishermen. 

There will likely be Action Alerts making the rounds in the near future.  Action Alerts describe the issue and offer a letter to your representatives, governor and others who have a bearing on the decisions in  Olympia.   Its a simple form and its controlled by voter voice.   CCA and PSA have been using it for two years and its working great.  You can delete yourself from the email list anytime you want.

The letter can be altered to suit your preference, but keep in mind its being sent out by a fishing organization.   For the most part we want the same things.   I know a lot of members that fish and they also hunt.     

If you dont have direct access to your lobbyist, then this may be the best approach.  In 2009  someone representing hunters threw the sport fishers under the bus and the anglers barely got the word out in time to save the commission.  It was really close.   

Both House and Senate committees with oversite of WDFW, have a lot of new people and one has a new chair.   We cannot take anything for granted.   Parks is 60 million in the hole.  Right now SB5249 is under consideration to move the WDFW LE into the State Patrol.   In general the proposed merger will save no money.  It could leave vital enforcement areas with larger gaps.

I urge all of you to link up to your hunting and fishing buddies and forum buddies to speed up the communication.  In many cases, Alerts go out and its a matter of days before a vote.  We can make a difference.    We far outnumber those who want these changes, but we need to be heard in addition to the representation. 

Thanks.