SF 280 – Residency for armed forces for hunting, fishing and trapping privileges
SF 281 – Boat, ATV and snowmobile registration process improvements
SF 282 – Repeal of Honey Creek Premier Destination Park bond program
SF 86 – Anatomical gift donor information for DNR licenses and education programs
SF 198 – Landowner wild turkey and deer tags
SF 203– Fishing on private pond, prohibiting DNR from stocking private ponds
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 280 – Residency for armed forces for hunting, fishing and trapping privileges
SF 280 allows active duty members of the armed services stationed and domiciled at the Rock Island Arsenal to qualify as Iowa residents for hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges. Their spouses and dependents also qualify. This change would mirror legislation enacted last session that allowed these service members to qualify as Iowa residents to register their dependent children in Iowa school districts.
Currently, the active duty service member must be stationed at the military installation and be domiciled in Iowa to qualify as a resident. The current law also allows active duty military service members who are stationed in Iowa or have claimed residency and filed a state individual income tax return in Iowa in the previous year to receive resident hunting, fishing and trapping privileges.
[2/14: Short Form]
SF 281 – Boat, ATV and snowmobile registration process improvements
SF 281 updates the Iowa Code regarding the process for registering and titling of boats and other vessels. Boat and vessel registration is now done using an electronic licensing system. These changes will improve the process. Changes include:
- Allowing an owner to register their vessel with any county recorder rather than the county where the vessel was initially registered.
- Allowing a 60-day grace period for renewal of a boat registration. Boat registrations expire on April 30, prior to the time most owners take their vessel onto the water. Owners could renew prior to June 1 without having to pay a $5 late fee.
- Allowing an owner to initially register their vessel for shorter than the three-year registration period. This allows the owner to prorate the fee and align the registration with the timeline for renewal.
- Allowing a title to be used to sell or transfer a vessel. Currently, the transfer or sale requires completing a form on the original registration certificate.
- Removing the requirement for a notarial to witness the application for a title after acquiring a vessel.
The bill also increases from 15 to 30 the number of days a snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle or vessel dealer has to send fees and applications to transfer a vehicle requiring a title.
[2/14: Short Form]
SF 282 – Repeal of Honey Creek Premier Destination Park bond program
SF 282 repeals Code language regarding the Honey Creek Premier Destination Park bond program. The bond program was established to finance the construction and development of the Honey Creek Destination Resort State Park. The Legislature appropriated money necessary for the defeasement of the bonds in 2013, and the bonds were redeemed on June 1, 2016. By function of the Code language establishing the bond authority, the authority was dissolved two years after the redemption of the bonds on June 1, 2018.
The bill makes a technical change to preserve existing Code language regarding competitive bidding requirements for the resort. The Code language that established the bond authority included an exemption for purchases related to the operation of the resort, but not to development or construction of facilities at the resort. Because the park remains in operation (even though the bond authority has been dissolved), the competitive bidding language is being maintained in a new Code section.
[2/14: Short Form]
FLOOR & COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 86 – Anatomical gift donor information for DNR licenses and education programs
SF 86 would establish hunting, fishing and trapping licenses issued by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as accepted records for a person to record his or her registration as an organ donor under the anatomical gift law. The bill makes a number of conforming changes to the anatomical gift law to add these documents as accepted methods for a person to declare his or her anatomical gift, including:
- Allowing a minor who is at least 14 years of age to register his or her anatomical gift on a hunting, fishing or fur harvester licenses, with the signed approval of a parent or guardian;
- Authorizing the placement of a symbol on the license indicating the anatomical gift;
- Providing that the revocation of the hunting, fishing or fur harvester license does not invalidate the gift on the Iowa donor registry;
- Including the DNR as a resource for hospitals and organ procurement agencies to determine if an individual has made an anatomical gift.
The bill also requires DNR to include a section on applications for hunting, fishing or fur harvester licenses allowing the applicant to request the placement of a symbol indicating that the applicant is a donor under the anatomical gift law. The DNR will also include information relating to becoming an organ donor under the anatomical gift law as part of the department’s curriculum for the hunter education and safety certificate program.
The Senate adopted an amendment on the floor to designate the legislation as “Logan’s Law” in memory of Logan Luft. Logan died as a result of an all-terrain vehicle accident but his family was able to donate his organs and tissue. Logan was made aware of the organ donation option when he applied for a motor vehicle operator’s permit. His family has pursued this expansion of anatomical gift donor information and education to memorialize his life and broaden the reach of current organ and tissue donation programs.
[Committee 2/14: Short Form; Floor 2/20: 47-0 (Absent: Miller-Meeks, Zaun; Vacant: Danielson)]
FLOOR ACTION:
SF 198 – Landowner wild turkey and deer tags
SF 198 provides more prescriptive language regarding the use of landowner deer and wild turkey tags across shotgun or bow hunting seasons. Legislation last year allowed an unused landowner tag to be used in subsequent hunting seasons during the year they were issued in the event the tag was unfilled during an earlier season. The person using the tag must hunt using the prescribed method of take for the season when the tag is used. SF 198 clarifies the process further to ensure that the landowner tags are not used during the applicable youth hunting seasons, but only in the other hunting seasons outlined by the NRC.
[2/20: 48-0 (Absent: Miller-Meeks; Vacant: Danielson)]
SF 203– Fishing on private pond, prohibiting DNR from stocking private ponds
SF 203 would allow fishing without a license on an entirely landlocked private pond that is not connected to the channel of a water of the state. Currently, a person fishing in Iowa must purchase a license as applicable regardless of the body of water. The amendment also prohibits the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from stocking fish in privately owned ponds. The DNR offered fish stocking in ponds for a minor fee in the past. They ceased doing so in recent years because they lacked funding, but had given thought to restarting the program because increased license fee receipts would have allowed the department to expand their wildlife and habitat resource programs. The fish would include fingerling-size fish from a variety of species. The DNR did not stock fish that were of harvesting size or for game purposes.
[2/20: 34-14 (Yes: Republicans plus Bisignano, Kinney, R. Taylor; Absent: Miller-Meeks; Vacant: Danielson)]