A bill that would make Missouri hunting and fishing permits free for military personnel and disabled veterans faced bipartisan criticism Monday.
The legislation would require the conservation commission to remove costs for some service members’ hunting and fishing tags. Free permits would go to 100% disabled veterans who are Missouri residents and any active military personnel regardless of residency — along with their dependents.
“For our disabled veterans, I think it’s the least that we could do to at least offer them the opportunity to go hunting at no cost since they have given so much to our county,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Rep. Don Mayhew of Crocker.
Mayhew pointed to a budget surplus at the Missouri Department of Conservation as justification for the giveaway.
Members of the House Committee on Conservation and Natural Resources pushed back, noting that surplus funds serve as emergency reserves for disaster response and that the department has upcoming projects that will draw down its budget.
State Rep. Michael Burton, a Democrat from Lakeshire, praised the department while cautioning against anything that could jeopardize it. “Missouri has one of the best, if not the best conservation department in the country,” Burton said. “I don’t want to put that in limbo.”
Republican Rep. Brenda Shields of St. Joseph echoed those concerns.
This story originally appeared in the Missouri Independent and is republished under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.