Last week in committee, I won passage of an amendment to Senate Bill 941, which would raise the fee for nonresident annual hunting licenses for game other than deer, antelope, elk, or bear to $208 from $175.
I’m not for raising fees, but I want out-of-state hunters to bear a burden equal to Oklahoma residents. In the original version of this bill, the fee for an annual hunting license for nonresidents would have increased by only $5 or 3%. At present, the license is $175 and has been for 15 years or longer, while surrounding states have an annual hunting license fee of $208.50. My amendment would take this fee to the regional average.
Another issue is Oklahoma hunters facing overcrowding. The job of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is to protect our state resources while providing the best hunting opportunities for Oklahoma residents. People from other states will come here to fish and hunt or they won’t, but we shouldn’t make this an economic driver at the expense of Oklahomans.
In the meantime, the House and Senate are still at loggerheads over the education plan. The House plan would give across-the-board teacher pay raises and more funding to rural schools. I trust we’ll get this worked out. It may look like a quagmire up at the Capitol, but when citizens get involved at home it can really change things.
I had a couple of visitors to my Capitol office last week. Katy Upton, the CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of LeFlore County, came by to express her appreciation of receiving American Rescue Plan Act funds, which will help the organization purchase and renovate the old True Value store in Poteau.
Bethany Black, the executive director of the LeFlore County Child Advocacy Network, part of Children’s Advocacy Centers of Oklahoma, came to ask for additional funding. She would like to see an increase to $5.6 million from the $2.8 million the centers currently receive. She explained that half of the funding goes to Tulsa and Oklahoma City while the remainder is divided among 17 rural centers. These rural centers in some cases help more people than the urban centers, she said. The funding for CAC has not increased since 2022.
I’m always glad to get input from the folks back home. I’ll evaluate all that was shared.
Also this past week, we held Ag Day at the Capitol, an opportunity to recognize the contributions of the agriculture industry in our state. And we recognized the contributions of Oklahoma National Guard in an appreciation ceremony in a joint session of the House and Senate.
With work in our regular standing committees now over, we’ll begin hearing Senate bills on the House floor over the next few weeks.
Remember to listen to me on KPRV Radio at 7:30 a.m. every Thursday for my legislative update.
As always, if I can help you with anything, feel free to call my Capitol office at (405) 557-7413 or email me at rick.west@okhouse.gov.
- Rick West serves District 3 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes part of LeFlore County.
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