Wait a little longer to know what the AIS Law changes will be! VETOED by Dayton

{Copyright to the Star Tribune}
Boaters, anglers, hunters, target shooters, ATV riders, trappers and other outdoor enthusiasts will have to wait to see how they are affected by a wide-ranging bill passed last week by the Legislature. That bill was vetoed Saturday by Gov. Mark Dayton, proving again the power of the pen in influencing activities in the state’s woods, waters, fields and trails. None of these provisions is in dispute, and they are likely to be included in a reconsidered bill and signed by Gov. Dayton. Assuming that holds, the following changes will be in place:

Boaters, anglers

• Minnesota’s 2.3 million boaters won’t have to pass a 30-minute training course on aquatic invasive species (AIS) or put a decal on their boats showing they passed the class. Instead boaters will have to register crafts and read a summary of AIS prevention requirements, and they will have to sign a form and possess it while on the water. Nonresident anglers will have to deal with the forms, too.

• Conservation officers and boat inspectors will require that boats contaminated with aquatic invasive species be cleaned before being launched.

Here is the link for the complete article:
http://www.startribune.com/boaters-anglers-hunters-and-more-will-be-affected-by-new-laws-passed-by-minnesota-legislature/304833351/

Call Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s office to tell him what you think, Pass the Bill!

Email
Send your questions and comments to Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Smith http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form/

Telephone Numbers
Telephone: 651-201-3400
Toll Free: 800-657-3717
Minnesota Relay: 800-627-3529
Fax: 651-797-1850

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Repeal-MN-Statute-86B13/1593672207529357

Oh, Yes,

{Copyright to Star Tribune from the same Article}
Bills that didn’t pass!
Bills that didn’t pass

• A bill that would have tightened trapping regulations to prevent the accidental trapping of dogs stalled. Dog owners and some sporting groups pushed for it; trapping groups opposed it.

• A proposed increase in the surcharge on boat registration fees used to fight aquatic invasive species — now $5 for three years — to $10 over three years, didn’t pass.

• A $5 price hike for the annual state park pass, to $30, wasn’t approved.

• A proposal to ban recreational feeding of bears also died.

letter sent to Governor

Also vetoed: Use of cast nets in the St Croix and Mississippi Rivers to harvest shad to use as bait.

The PDF attached is his reasoning to veto the whole works.

When I look up “Budget Surplus” in my dictionary I find this definition:

“Over taxed”.

Attachments:

1. Governors-veto-letter-for-HF-846.pdf

It sure would be nice if you could pass outdoors regulations without the legislature. That whole process is messed up.

mplspug wrote:

It sure would be nice if you could pass outdoors regulations without the legislature. That whole process is messed up.

So True, Oh so TRUE!

When you followed these Bills like I did this year you find how convoluted our Legislative process really is. Very few of any Bills originally written make on their own. They end up in massive Omnibus Bill (An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers a number of diverse or unrelated topics. Omnibus is derived from Latin and means “for everything”. An omnibus bill is a single document that is accepted in a single vote by a legislature but packages together several measures into one or combines diverse subjects.

Because of their large size and scope, omnibus bills limit opportunities for debate and scrutiny. Historically, omnibus bills have sometimes been used to pass controversial amendments. For this reason, some consider omnibus bills to be anti-democratic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibus_bill )

This years MnDNR Bill was appprox 224 pages.
The State Legislature wants control of everything. In some cases that may be fine and in others it just becomes a Political Hot Potato

Up until a few years ago I just assumed that the DNR pretty much made the rules and the legislature wasn’t involved. They should separate the 2. If you don’t you get guys like Chaudrey who legislated for his own personal interest.

mplspug wrote:

If you don’t you get guys like Chaudrey who legislated for his own personal interest

I’m sure that’s pretty uncommon though.

Pug… thats why I’ve always wondered why people get so mad at the DNR… many of the “management” problems they get blamed for are actually not what they recommended and are overruled by legislation. Not saying the DNR is perfect… but many times the blame is misdirected…

mplspug wrote:

It sure would be nice if you could pass outdoors regulations without the legislature. That whole process is messed up.

Well… so who WOULD then be passing the regulations? An unelected body who is accountable only to an unlected commissioner who is appointed at the most ever 4 years?

I’d rather have the responsiveness of an ELECTED body passing laws. Look at the issues with the deer population crash. If the DNR had not been forced into a scientifically valid population study and, instead, left to their own “Let us worry about it” methods, we’d have no recourse.

Grouse

So make the DNR administration an elected body. Problem solved. Then you’ll get making laws based on the outdoors and give outdoor groups more say. As opposed to say officials without wildlife management degrees who are more concerned with say lake shore owners.

mplspug wrote:

Up until a few years ago I just assumed that the DNR pretty much made the rules and the legislature wasn’t involved. They should separate the 2. {clipped}

With the DNR Omnibus Bill, I believe the MnDNR has some, maybe even quite a bit of Input.

Following this has been difficult at best with them only having hearing on a few, then basically re-writing a large portion into something different with a New Bill number.

The Legislature should set Policy and let the DNR carry-out the Policies. Problem as I see it is many of these Bills are so specific, they require additional unfunded staff to figure out the Money Trails they now have to comply with and how to apply each of these New LAW items in Regulations, etc.

Thus, the Legislature seems to make things so complex, they they grow the size of Government more and more, taking more money away from the very programs the people want and thus the reason so many are so very frustrated by the Government and it cost 2X to 4X to get anything done!

Rules are made by the DNR/Commissioner. Example would be our bullhead length law. There’s a number of public hearings involved and takes about 2 years normally.

When the bullhead length rule was approaching 6 years in the making we contacted a number of elected folks to work it into the law because the DNR (after all the hearings were said and done) seemed to be dragging their feet.

^ The above is overly simplified, but it makes a point. If a group wants to change a rule it can be done without lawmakers getting involved. However if it’s a law that needs to be changed or the DNR is unresponsive, groups have gone around the DNR to the legislature to have a law written and pass much faster then a rule.

Even though a rule will take at least 2 years to enact, the same rule can be changed by the commissioner over night if needed. Laws have to go through the House, Senate and the guy with the golden gavel and there’s seldom a single issue bill.

Why would we want to pass this feel good legislation?

Is it LESS WORSE than a sticker, test, etc…Maybe…

Is it beneficial to the environment…Likely not an impact.

Why pass this crap?

Before folks get a knot in their shorts about the veto of this bill, the AIS and Cast Net provisions are certain to remain in the Bill. The veto was about many provisions effecting pollution, citizens Oversight and loosing of some environmental protections. I wouldn’t cry foul at this point.

Buzz