WHATS GOING ON WITH SENATE BILL 147? I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING.

“What’s going on with Senate Bill 147?” I have been asked this question quite frequently since the September 10, 2019, Sunday hunting public hearing held in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Game and Fisheries Committee.
  
Currently, our national partners from the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation have asked if they can handle the continued negotiations. This is an agreeable request since these organizations have the resources, knowledge, and experts that understand all the legislative work that takes place.
  
As of this writing, Senate Bill 147 sits in the Pa House Game and Fisheries Committee. The current negotiations regarding whether the request for written permission from the Pa Farm Bureau will be added or not. The PFB is requesting SB147 be amended to include written permission on the Sundays stipulated in the bill. No other days are being considered to include written permission.
  
So essentially the PFB wants lawmakers to write a law for what we already have. Under our current posting regulations, a landowner can require or not require written permission to hunt on their property. If the landowner is comfortable with verbal permission, that is completely up to the property owner.
   
So the question becomes why do we need a law to do what we already can do legally at landowner discretion.

The NRA and NSSF are working through this. Neither has agreed or disagreed with the proposal. The negotiating team is working with lawmakers to understand why they think writing a law to do what can already be done makes sense or not make sense.
  
Now to the big question. Are we going to have the opportunity to hunt this hunting season? I wish I had a solid and straight answer but I don’t. I can assure you that HUSH, NRA, NSSF, and all the of the conservations organizations involved in the Pa Sunday hunting fight are doing all we can to get hunting opportunity as quickly as possible. We know and understand what the extra time afield means to everyone.
  
We are up against politicians and their willingness to act quickly for all the right reasons. As it stands the Pa House Game and Fisheries Committee must vote, SB147 then goes to the entire Pa House for a vote, then back to the Senate for a concurrence vote, and then to the governor's desk for signature. All indications are Governor Wolf will sign the bill into law.
  
The overarching and more pressing issue is: the longer the legislators choose not to take action. The longer SB147 is held up in the process. The timeline gets extended. 

This is why it is extremely important to continue calling and emailing legislators on SB147.

I get it, everyone has been doing that for the past 18 months. Please hear and read my words.  It is because of you, supporters of Sunday hunting opportunity that SB147 is where it is and the ‘needle moved’ further than it has ever been in the past 20 years. I am asking that you continue that momentum, keep those phones ringing and the legislator's email boxes full with SB147 and Sunday hunting messages. Continue making the hunter-conservationists voice heard. 

We are close, please stay in the fight. 

Sincerely;

Kevin B. Askew, Executive Director Hunters United for Sunday Hunting

LETTER TO PA POLITICIANS - I HAVE HAD MY FILL

Thanks Joe for providing us a copy of the letter you sent to Pa. politicians.  Your frustration is not lost on any of us.  We need more of these letter being sent to politicians in this state.   

Letter from Joe - Disgruntled Veteran & Hunter
To the politicians of Pennsylvania: 

I am an army combat vet who served in Baghdad from 2003-2004. I now own a home, land and have three kids. I want to pass on the family hunting tradition. My daughter is three and even at this young age, she knows daddy loves deer. It is not uncommon for me to work six days a week with Sunday being the day I have off. Being on commission based salary, Saturday is the day I make my money. 

I find it both ironic and pathetic that I can't use the very freedom I served to protect to hunt the land I own on the only day I have off [Sunday] with my children.  Especially since the Pennsylvania Game Commission supports hunting on Sunday as a game management option. 

I want to teach my kids how to hunt, but I also want to instill ethics and morals into their lives. With Senate Bill 147 not passing this year I decided to purchase a New York state hunting license. On Sundays, I will be spending my time there.   When my children turn 12 years old, I will be taking them there as that's the age they can legally hunt in NY. 

My plan for next year if SB147 does not go through is to purchase an acre or two in NY close to the state lands that I will be hunting. This will also allow me to take advantage of lower license prices for me and my family. 

I can assure all of you politicians if we do not have full inclusion of all Sundays by the time my kids are 12 years-of-age. I will refuse to spend a dime of my money in this state [PA] when it comes to hunting. 

I have also decided to not support dairy farms in Pennsylvania.  I will make sure any money spent on dairy products for my family will be on products that come from elsewhere. I understand how that sounds but I don't care, the Pa Farm Bureau claims to represent all these farmers that are dictating what I can and can't do with my children on my private land. I know that may not make much difference but I can't in good conscience support them [farmers] knowing that a portion of that money benefits the PFB in some way.  

Please understand I am not an unreasonable person but I have had my fill. To us, hunting is very important as a family and we should not have to make a choice between hunting or summer vacations or choose a different career path to get my kids hunting. 

Thank you for your time.

Joe - Disgruntled Veteran & Hunter

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE EDITORIAL... REMARKS THAT MISFIRED: NOT A GOOD REASON TO DERAIL SUNDAY HUNTING.

View Video of Sunday Hunting Testimony Here

Ego and wounded feelings should not stand in the way of  commonsense legislation.

THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
September 25, 2019

Pennsylvania lawmakers should not allow ego and wounded feelings to stand in the way of a bill that would permit hunting on Sunday a few times a year. 

Passage of the Sunday hunting bill was expected to be smooth and swift until some unfortunate remarks were made Sept. 10 by the new executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists — a major proponent of the initiative that has been sought for more than a decade. 

Harold Daub, a former leader of Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, was at a legislative meeting with the Game and Fisheries Committee, meant to prime the state House about a Senate bill that would permit limited Sunday hunting. But Mr. Daub rambled into territory considered by some as rude. The Dauphin County resident rapped the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, urging lawmakers not to allow the bureau to “bully” them. He also made a sarcastic and dismissive remark about the Keystone Trails Association.

Mr. Daub was not diplomatic. Nor was he politically smart. But this bull-in-the-china-shop behavior shouldn’t derail a good move. 

A Sunday hunting ban initially was part of a package of “blue laws” aimed at promoting church attendance, a notion that fails. Many Pennsylvanians are not Christian and Sunday hunting and church-going aren’t mutually exclusive.

Pennsylvania is one of only three states that haven’t lifted a general no-Sunday-hunting ban. Some limited hunting in Pennsylvania — coyotes and crows, for example — currently is allowed. The compromise Senate bill passed in June would have allowed three Sunday hunting days.

A perennial concern has been the safety of walkers, hikers and those who want to otherwise play in the woods. But this is a concern that applies seven days a week. Other states with safety concerns engaged in a test run of Sunday hunting, found it worked fine and lifted their bans. 

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau has opposed Sunday hunting for a reason that applies to the other six days of the week as well: trespass. Some hunters (and others) illegally trespass on private land. For farmers, that can mean crops being trampled at certain times of the year. For them, six days a week of hunting is better than seven days a week. This concern was dealt with in the pending legislation by creating a new primary offense: Hunting trespass. It would be enforceable by police and the state Game Commission and would be punishable by high fines and the possible loss of hunting privileges.

Senate Bill 147 was expected to pass the House with little debate until Mr. Daub’s inappropriate comments. That’s not a good enough reason for lawmakers to derail a process that’s been in the works for many years.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link:
https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2019/09/25/Pennsylvania-Sunday-hunting-remarks-Harold-Daub/stories/201909160022

BACKCOUNTRY HUNTERS & ANGLERS TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO PA GAME & FISHERIES COMMITTEE, SEPT. 10, 2019 HEARING

Pennsylvania Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers
www.backcountryhunters.org

September 10, 2019
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Game and Fisheries Committee






Dear Representatives,

The Pennsylvania Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is a nonprofit group that seeks to ensure preservation of Pennsylvania’s outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting. One of our main tenets is to maintain and enhance public access and opportunity for hunters and anglers.

We understand that the Committee is discussing the issue of Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania. We urge you to support the hunters of our state and give the Pennsylvania Game Commission the authority to regulate hunting on Sundays as they do with the other days of the week.

Sunday hunting would provide increased opportunities for junior hunters and working age adult hunters to become engaged in hunting and conservation. Additional opportunities will lead to better recruitment and retention of hunters throughout the state. Children's schedules today are more rigid than in the past.  Sunday hunting would double the amount of time that junior hunters can spend in the field without interfering with school and team sports, many of which have Saturday activities. Likewise, the work and social demands of many adult hunters limit their time and Sunday may be the only time available to hunt.

Lack of time plays a major role in why many Pennsylvanians leave hunting. Over the past several years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) has identified a downward trend in hunting license sales over the last decade. In a survey of lapsed hunters conducted for the PGC, lack of time and work obligations were among the most frequently stated reasons for the decision to stop hunting. This was especially true in junior hunters and adult hunters under the age of 35. These are the groups that need to be recruited to maintain and grow Pennsylvania’s hunting population. Permitting Sunday hunting would work to alleviate the diminishing number of young hunters.

Increased hunting opportunities also would lead to increased profits for the rural communities and
businesses throughout the commonwealth. A National Shooting Sports Foundation study found that
Sunday hunting could create over 8,000 new jobs and pump $764 million into the state’s economy.
For these reasons the Pennsylvania Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers supports Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania and SB 147.

Sincerely,

Pennsylvania Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers

HUNTERS UNITED FOR SUNDAY HUNTING TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO PA GAME & FISHERIES COMMITTEE, SEPT. 10, 2019 HEARING

Pennsylvania House Representatives, Game and Fisheries Committee:  

Pa. Farm Bureau farmers do not own all the land.  We as hunters own ground as well.

Hunters United for Sunday Hunting welcomes the additional hunting opportunity in Senate Bill 147 and understands the task and decisions ahead of you as state representatives.

The three-day stipulation in SB147 is disappointing. That decision is definitely not based on any scientific evidence, nor what hunting conservation in Pennsylvania deserves. The full complement of Sundays is truly what is needed without question.

Educate yourselves a little bit and understand what Senate Bill 147 does.  The biggest misunderstanding is that it is only a ‘hunting’ bill.  The fact is, trespass is the main portion.  Specifically, the trespass that Pa. Farm Bureau has been wanting.  This is a very simple bill that does everything it needs, provides for landowner rights, strengthen trespass, and provides additional hunting opportunities. The Pa. Farm Bureau has been asking for decades for trespass laws to be updated, the language in this bill is exactly what they have been wanting.  Trespassing while hunting would be a primary offense and enforceable by both game wardens and law enforcement officers.  But yet they are still opposed? Why?  The Pa. Farm Bureau just wants to posture and stand in the way of wildlife conservation progress in this state for no real reason.  The Pa. Farm Bureau knows full well that they are getting stronger hunting trespass laws that benefit both farmers and landowners.  All the while providing additional hunting opportunities to farmers and others. 

It is no secret that the Pa. Farm Bureau wants to hold SB147 up by asking for a ‘written permission’ amendment.  What the PFB is not telling you is that they are working with Representative Dawn Keefer on a “use of paint to designate no-trespass areas”  better known as purple paint laws used in various other states. As written by PFB [purple paint]  “Would allow landowners to identify with purple paint on trees, fences and other structures those areas of the property where entry is prohibited, with paint markings having the same legal protection against unauthorized trespass as posting “no trespassing” signs.

This is very important to understand when it comes to Senate Bill 147.  ‘Purple paint’ negates the need for ‘written permission’ and confirms the PFB only wants to hold SB147 up for no real reason.  If the PFB were to come clean, you would find out their opposition has nothing to do with trespass and has everything to do with religion.

SB 147 is a step forward to correct a 337-year-old antiquated blue law.  If you do some research you will find that the four words ‘Hunting on Sunday Prohibited’ in Pa. Title 34 Game Law dates back to 1682 as a colony under British control.  The laws were enacted for religious reasons designed to drive people to observe Sunday as the Sabbath.  There are over 300 religions currently practiced in this century, not all of them observe Sunday as a Sabbath. As legislators you have a choice; continue to make history and help advance hunting conservation to fit modern times; or, continue a 337-year old outmoded law.

As you make your decision, think about the disdain the PFB displays towards hunters on this subject and ask yourself; is this the way forward?  The York Dispatch printed this from Joel Rotz, Pa. Farm Bureau, Government Affairs and Communications spokesman “hunters who can't go out on Sundays already have an economic impact, such as by going to sports events or eating and drinking at bars and restaurants in their communities.”

We encourage the passing of Senate Bill 147 in its current state. Without any additional amendments or hold-ups.  The quicker SB 147 gets through the legislative process the better.  Only then will we be able to come together on what is truly needed and what is best for the future of hunting conservation in Pa.   

Hunters United for Sunday Hunting and the over 20 supporting organizations remain dedicated to our mission to remove the prohibition of Sunday hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law through education, and influence legislatures to change the law accordingly.

Sincerely;  

Kevin B. Askew

Executive Director, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting