On Tuesday, Senator Bailey presented six natural resources bills to the Senate’s Committee on Education, Energy, and the Environment relating to hunting, commercial fishing, and boating:
Hunting
Senate Bill 100 – Natural Resources – Pursuing Wounded Deer After Legal Hunting Hours – Authorization would permit a hunter who wounds a deer during legal hunting hours to pursue and kill the deer after legal hunting hours. This would allow hunters to ensure that a deer that they wound is dispatched humanely, rather than being left to die from its injuries or attacked by predatory animals such as coyotes.
Senate Bill 335 – Natural Resources – Canada Geese – Bag Limits would require the bag limit for all Canada geese to be uniform across the State during the 30-day migratory Atlantic population Canada goose hunting season.
Commercial Fishing
Senate Bill 76 – Tidal Fish Licenses – Oyster Authorizations – Administrative Penalties would protect the due process rights of commercial watermen by limiting the length of time that the Department of Natural Resources may suspend their authorization to catch oysters unless the license holder has been convicted of violating the State’s natural resources law.
Senate Bill 87 – Fisheries – Striped Bass or Rockfish – Juvenile Survey would expand the scope of the annual young-of-the-year juvenile survey of rockfish by requiring this survey to be conducted in the central region of the Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay in addition to sampling sites in the northern and southern regions of the Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
Senate Bill 186 – Commercial Blue and Flathead Catfish Finfish Trotline License – Prohibited Regulations would allow the use of trotlines to catch blue and flathead catfish south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which is prohibited under current regulations. This would provide commercial harvesters a larger area to remove these invasive fish from Maryland’s waterways, reducing the damage that they can cause to our State’s native fish species.
Boating
Senate Bill 23 – Natural Resources – State Boat Act – Auctioneers would exempt licensed auctioneers from having to obtain a dealer’s license in order to auction a boat in Maryland. This would match the current exemption in law for auctioneers who auction vehicles and would make it easier for Marylanders to find professionals willing to auction their boats.
Agriculture Week
This week was Maryland Agriculture Week. Senator Bailey was proud to join his colleagues in honoring Maryland farmers and the economic benefit that they bring to our State.
The Senator is continuing to advocate for the restoration of funding in the budget for the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC). This funding does not come from taxes but rather from the revenue the State receives each year from the Cigarette Restitution Fund (commonly known as the tobacco settlement) and was pledged to our Southern Maryland farmers as part of the transition away from growing tobacco in our region. The budget as introduced phases funding for SMADC out over four years and redirects this money to other programs. Senator Bailey will continue to work to ensure our farmers continue to receive the support that was promised to them.
Anti-Second Amendment Bills
The deadlines for bills to be introduced in the Senate and House and be guaranteed a hearing also occurred this week. Senator Bailey is monitoring and opposes three bills that will infringe upon our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms and the rights of our Maryland sportsmen. They are:
Senate Bill 634/House Bill 741 – Hunting – Nonlead Ammunition, Fox Chasing, and Deer Management would ban the use of lead ammunition by hunters gradually over the next four years. This is particularly troubling because there are many calibers of rifles, ie. 22 caliber ammunition which are used to introduce many new and young people to hunting, is not commercially available. Thus making these rifles and potentially other calibers illegal under this proposed legislation.
House Bill 387 – Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act is similar to legislation Senator Bailey opposed last year that would impose an 11% excise tax on retail firearm sales in Maryland.
House Bill 937 – Sales and Use Tax – Firearms, Firearm Accessories, and Ammunition – Rate Alteration would double the sales tax rate for firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition from 6% to 12%.