Arizona Game And Fish To Hold Public Meetings On Proposed License Simplification Legislation

Oct. 19, 2012

PHOENIX - The Arizona Game And Fish Department will host a series of public meetings statewide in November to discuss proposed legislation to allow the Arizona Game and Fish Commission to establish hunting and fishing license structure directly through a streamlined, customer-focused process.

The proposal would provide the commission more flexibility to change the license structure and license products to be responsive to customer needs and changing conditions.

“Potential benefits include establishment of a simpler, easier-to-understand license structure, better license products offering more value, and a more streamlined process allowing direct customer input opportunities,” said Assistant Director Ty Gray. “The public meetings will explain the proposal and offer the opportunity for questions and feedback,”

Gray explained that under the current process, the commission must seek legislative approval (passage of a bill) each time it wants to revise the hunting and fishing license structure, and then the revised structure has to go through an administrative rulemaking.

“The combination of the two is complex and time consuming, sometimes taking three years or more for implementation,” he said.

While retaining legislative oversight, the proposed legislation would allow the commission to establish a license structure directly through a rulemaking process.

The Arizona Game And Fish Department doesn’t receive general fund (Arizona tax) revenues to operate, and like a business, it operates primarily with the revenue it generates—mostly from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, federal excise taxes on certain hunting and fishing equipment, and a few other sources such as the Heritage Fund (a portion of Arizona Lottery ticket sales).

“For an agency to run like a business, it must have the ability to operate in the marketplace and respond to customer needs and changing conditions in a timely manner, as a business would,” said Gray. “This proposal would help us better do that.”

The public meetings will be held from 6-8 p.m. on the following dates:

Monday, Nov. 5, Tucson, Arizona Game And Fish Department Tucson regional office, 555 N. Greasewood Road.

Wednesday, Nov. 7, Flagstaff, Arizona Game And Fish Department Flagstaff regional office, 3500 S. Lake Mary Road.

Thursday, Nov. 8, Pinetop, Arizona Game And Fish Department Pinetop regional office, 2878 E. White Mountain Blvd.

Tuesday, Nov. 13, Yuma, Booth Machinery, 6565 E. 30th St.

Wednesday, Nov. 14, Kingman, Arizona Game And Fish Department Kingman regional office, 5325 N. Stockton Hill Road.

Thursday, Nov. 15, Prescott, Yavapai County Board of Supervisors office, 1015 Fair St.

Monday, Nov. 19, Phoenix, Arizona Game And Fish Department headquarters, 5000 W. Carefree Highway (also webcast at http://www.azgfd.gov/webcast).

For more information, visit http://www.azgfd.gov/LicenseSimplification.