18 YEA's REPEALING SUNDAY HUNTING PROHIBITION IN PENNSYLVANIA - HB1431 PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE.

CONTACT: Hunters United for Sunday Hunting

TELEPHONE: 717-350-6741

EMAIL: huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com

WEBSITE: facebook.com/HuntersUnitedForSundayHunting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/DISTRIBUTION 

YEA VOTE FOR REPEALING SUNDAY HUNTING PROHIBITION IN PENNSYLVANIA - HB1431 BY PA HOUSE GAME AND FISHERIES COMMITTEE. 

  

The Pennsylvania House Game and Fisheries Committee on June 3, 2025, advanced PA House Bill 1431, Repealing Sunday Hunting Prohibition in Pennsylvania, with a vote of 18YEA, 8NAY.

The vote was consistent with the Democratic majority voting favorably, along with four Republican minority members supporting.  

View the PA House Game and Fisheries Committee meeting and voting here. The advancement of this legislation is important in helping hunters and farmers.  Over the past years, hunter-conservation identified their number one issue as removing the prohibitive blue law restricting hunting on Sunday.  Agriculture identified its number one issue as being economic, locally and as a whole, through losses associated with crop damage.  

HB1431:

• Removes the blue law prohibiting hunting on Sunday and provides the Pennsylvania Game Commission with full regulatory authority to set seasons and bag limits seven days a week. 

• Provides for a member of the Board of Pennsylvania Game Commissioners who represents the interest of agricultural commodities that pertain to normal agricultural operations and wildlife. That applicant will now have to meet the criteria of being knowledgeable in the area of wildlife management as well as actively engaged in a normal agricultural operation as defined in the Right-to-Farm Law.

• Directs the labeling of natural deer urine for the use of hunting.  The urine must have adequate labeling and testing to ensure they are free of Chronic Wasting Disease. 

• Guides the reporting of harvested animals for crop damage. 

• Strengthens private property trespass rules. 

Statement from Kevin Askew, Executive Director, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting:

“ Hunter-citizens of Pennsylvania have been asking for an update to the blue law for over 50 years.  I would like to thank legislators for demonstrating their trust in the Pennsylvania Game Commission to do as they are charged and manage PA’s wildlife resources for generations now and future.  Your ongoing courage to change and remove the archaic blue law that prohibits hunting on Sundays will have a lasting effect for current and future hunters.”

“I want to also recognize the efforts of our partnerships with Hunter Nation-PA, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and Representative Mandy Steele (D), Allegheny Co.  Without legislative cooperation, we would not be at the point of ending the 343-year-old blue law and the 50-year benign seven-day-a-week hunting issue.”   

HB1431 will now move to the Pennsylvania House for a full floor vote.  

For more information about this topic, please contact Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, Executive Director Kevin Askew at 717-350-6741 or email at huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com.  View our Blog - https://huntersforsundayhunting.blogspot.com/ 

HUSH Mission Statement - Remove the prohibition of Sunday hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law through education, and influence legislatures to change the law accordingly.

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YEA VOTE FOR THE STEELE DEAL - REPEALING SUNDAY HUNTING PROHIBITION PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE

 

CONTACT: Hunters United for Sunday Hunting

TELEPHONE: 717-350-6741

EMAIL: huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com

WEBSITE: facebook.com/HuntersUnitedForSundayHunting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/DISTRIBUTION

YEA VOTE FOR REPEALING SUNDAY HUNTING PROHIBITION IN PENNSYLVANIA - THE STEELE DEAL HB2106, HB2107, HB2108  BY PA HOUSE GAME AND FISHERIES COMMITTEE.

The Pennsylvania House Game and Fisheries Committee on May 22, 2024, advanced THE STEELE DEAL HB2106, HB2107, HB2108  Repealing Sunday Hunting Prohibition in Pennsylvania. with a vote of 13 YEA, 11 NAY, and 1 NO VOTE on HB2106;  14 YEA and 11 NAY on HB2107; and 13 YEA, 11 NAY, and 1 NO VOTE  on HB2108.

The vote was consistent down party lines with the Democrat majority supporting all three bills and the Republican minority opposing all three bills.

How did we get here?  Simple, by Representative Mandy Steele doing her due diligence for eight months listening, learning, and having conversations on how to help grow the booming outdoor industry in PA while also assisting agriculture in its goals.  Hunter-conservation identified their number one issue as removing the prohibitive blue law restricting hunting on Sunday.  Agriculture identified its number one issue as being economic locally and as a whole through losses associated with crop damage.

HB2106 removes the blue law prohibiting hunting on Sunday and provides the Pennsylvania Game Commission with full regulatory authority to set seasons and bag limits seven days a week. HB 2106 also strengthens trespass laws by outlining the requirements and responsibilities for landowners and hunters alike.

HB2107 merely finishes what has been started.  It is known the PGC has been working towards a revision and updates to the hunter agriculture crop damage system.  Be it that all legalities and mechanics for implementation can be worked out.  HB2107 finishes the puzzle of connecting hunters, agriculturalists, and farmers by creating an online network to streamline the process for better interaction and results for those farmers seeking help with crop damage.

HB2108 is a hunter-conservation and agriculture mission multiplier when viewed and interpreted correctly.  There are currently two sitting agriculturalists on the PGC Board of Commissioners.  HB2108 updates and provides the needed defining criteria for the best selection possible for the most qualified candidate.  That applicant will now have to meet the criteria of being knowledgeable in the area of wildlife management as well as actively engaged in a normal agricultural operation as defined in the Right-to-Farm Law.

Statement from Kevin Askew, Executive Director, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting;

“The Steele Deal is a good deal; it provides for everything needed, not everything wanted.  I would like to thank Representative Mandy Steele for her dedication in bringing this package of needed bills that helps hunters, conservationists, agriculturalists, and farmers.  I would also like to extend a thank you to all the Democrats who worked on and supported the Steele Deal.  Far too often democrats are painted, portrayed, and stigmatized as not supporting hunting conservation and agriculture.  Your bold party line YEA vote today has demonstrated what has historically been recorded in the voting record on conservation issues. That is as a whole, Democrats have voted YEA on conservation issues much more than your Republican counterparts.  Today’s vote could be the first step in breaking that stigma.”

For more information about this topic, please contact Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, Executive Director Kevin Askew at 717-350-6741 or email at huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com.  View our Blog - https://huntersforsundayhunting.blogspot.com/ 

View the PA House Game and Fisheries Committee meeting and voting here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Tc-oR-aF1No

View the PA House Game and Fisheries Committee vote here: 

HB2106 https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_votes.cfm?syear=2023&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2106

HB2107 https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_votes.cfm?syear=2023&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2107

HB2108 https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2023&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2108

HUSH Mission Statement - Remove the prohibition of Sunday hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law through education, and influence legislatures to change the law accordingly.

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THE STEELE DEAL - REMOVES SUNDAY HUNTING BLUE LAW, STRENGTHENS TRESPASS, DEVELOPS ONLINE NETWORK

CONTACT: Hunters United for Sunday Hunting

TELEPHONE: 717-350-6741

EMAIL: huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com

WEBSITE: facebook.com/HuntersUnitedForSundayHunting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE & DISTRIBUTION

Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, Hunter Nation - PA, and Keystone Conservation Action would like to issue the following statement to announce the introduction of HB2106, HB2107, HB2108 by PA Representative Mandy Steele, (D) Allegheny County.  This legislative package will: 

1. Remove the blue law prohibiting hunting on Sunday.

2. Strengthen trespass laws.

3. Connect hunters, agriculturalists, and farmers by creating an online network to streamline the process for better interaction and results for those farmers seeking help with crop damage.

4. To the extent possible in the PA Game Commissioner consideration, selection, and appointment process one of the nine commissioners be actively engaged in a normal agricultural operation as defined by the Right-to-Farm-Law and knowledgeable in the area of wildlife management. 

How we got here. 

Hunter-conservation identified their number one issue as removing the prohibitive blue law restricting hunting on Sunday.  Agriculture identified its number one issue as being economic both locally and as a whole through losses associated with crop damage. 

On January 30, 2024, PA Representative Mandy Steele (D) introduced and announced proposed legislation to remove the blue law prohibiting hunting on Sunday to provide the needed time for hunters to connect with those farmers and agriculturalists who were asking for help in controlling the wildlife from damaging their crops.  The announcement of this proposed legislation set the news cycle to abound.

A meeting was orchestrated for February 19, 2024, where all the active players had confirmed their participation; Rep. Steele, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, Hunter Nation-PA, Keystone Conservation Action, Pennsylvania Game Commission, and PA Farm Bureau. Everyone was open, considerate, and frank and understood that any deal would have to be fair and not one-sided. That meeting set everyone on a very high-paced course to get something done. 

The days that followed allowed for everyone's concerns to be heard and addressed and produced equitable legislation for approval.  It is important to emphasize that neither group got everything they wanted they are getting what is needed as explained in the bill's memorandum and proposed legislation. 

On March 4, 2024, a final meeting was held with legal counsel to review language and make the proper corrections to meet and fit into established rules, laws, procedures, and legislative standards.  Lawyers took the rest of the week to finish the audit and finalize the documents for publication. 

The bill collection of HB2106, HB2107, HB2108 is formally announced and introduced into the legislative cycle ending 2024.

It is important to note that without the bipartisanship and willingness to work together of the above individuals and organizations, the legislative package would not exist.  This is a great example of what can happen when everyone is willing to come to the middle for a common goal.

There is much optimism and hope that this three-bill bundle will make it through the legislative process for both the PA House of Representatives as well as the PA Senate.  There is legislative support to get this done. At the root of it, this is a bipartisan political issue.  As Rep. Mandy Steele has said, “By supporting hunters, we are preserving forests, managing wildlife, and creating economic growth in Pennsylvania.”

The outdoor industry [including hunting/shooting/trapping] added more value to our commonwealth’s gross domestic product than all of Pennsylvania’s farms, all of Pennsylvania’s oil and gas wells, and even all of Pennsylvania’s lawyers.  2021 Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce.

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For more information about this topic, please contact Hunters United for Sunday Hunting at 717-350-6741 or email at huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com. 

View our Blog - https://huntersforsundayhunting.blogspot.com/

Hunters United for Sunday Hunting Mission Statement - Remove the prohibition of Sunday hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law through education, and influence legislatures to change the law accordingly.

 

HB1300 - DON’T USE THE PA GAME FUND. FINANCE THE AGRICULTURE PA CLEAN STREAMS PROGRAM WITH THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.

 

Open letter to the Pennsylvania Legislature

To say that there is much hostility to the proposals in Pennsylvania House Bill 1300, Session 2023 that targets the PA Game Commissions Game Fund and transfers money to the PA Clean Streams agriculture program is an understatement.  Nearly every hunter-conservation organization along with various mainstream conservation groups has issued letters of opposition.

It is unclear who introduced the amendment and for what reason. But one thing is for sure the disappointment is palpable.  Especially with those senators who have done a lot for hunter-conservation and then voted in favor of the PA Game Fund money being taken.  There has not been a clear reason given as to why the money needs to come from the PA Game Fund. 

HB1300 immediately transfers $150 million from conservation and places a tax estimated at $10 million per year on the real property that the PGC holds.  Both of these violate the rules of the PA Game Fund as it relates to the Pittman and Robertson Act which allocates yearly federal dollars to every state.  The PGC would lose an estimated $40 million per year because of these actions.  Once Pittman and Robertson's funding is lost there is no solution or option for when it could return, if at all.

Knowing that taking the $150 million from the PA Game Fund will result in a detrimental impact monetarily on the PGC and its ability to affect the wildlife resources of the commonwealth what can be done?

It starts by understanding the PA Clean Streams Act origination and what it does. Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Fund was created with $220 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, and funds conservation programs including ACAP, designed to share the costs to farmers for farm management practices that reduce sediment in waterways, keeping the nutrients out of waterways, and on the farm to build soil health. 

It's also important to understand that agriculture is prospering in PA “According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, with $7.8 billion in cash receipts annually from production agriculture alone the Commonwealth’s farms and agribusinesses are a leading economic driver in the state. It only stands to reason that since this deals strictly with agriculture [and they obviously have the money] they are the ones who should foot the bill for this subsidy.

Where can the funding come from if it's so important?

The first thing is to accept and understand that this is another government allowance to an already heavily subsidized agriculture industry.  So in typical government fashion, the subsidy can’t ever go away.  It must be funded perpetually and without question, especially when it comes to agricultural survival without government aid.

Option one:  When the $220 million ACAP funding is depleted let the subsidy fund lapse until a dedicated funding stream can be found from agriculture and agriculture only.

Option two: It has been reported that the state has a surplus of $13 billion.  Take $150 million and invest it in the PA Clean Streams fund as an influx.  In the next 12 months and prior to the next budget deadline vigorously pursue alternative funding preferably from agriculture.

Option three and one that has longevity: With $7.8 billion in cash generated and taxes being paid directly to the state; dedicate $150 million of that tax revenue yearly in order to fund the PA Clean Streams Act.  This process would be very similar to the Pittman and Robertson model that helps feed the PA Game Fund.

Option four and one that has longevity: The PA Farmland Preservation Program has been budgeted $2.5 million. Farmers benefit from the land being purchased by the state and preserved.  The farmer receives a financial stipend for placing the property in the preservation program.   Update the financial transaction rules that 20 percent will be taken from the purchase price of every property and placed into the PA Clean Streams Fund.  This is still a benefit to the farmer and agriculture.  The farmer receives an 80 percent return and continues normal operations, the property is placed in preservation status, and the PA Farmland Preservation Program remains funded with an existing agriculture source providing the needed financing for the PA Clean Streams Fund.  Again, very similar to the PA Game Fund and Pittman and Robertson, but with government money only.

*How proceeds can be used from the PA Farmland Preservation Progam 

Farmers may choose to receive the proceeds from easement sales in a lump sum payment, installments up to five years, or on a long-term installment basis.  Many farmers use the proceeds from easement sales to reduce debt loads, expand operations, and pass on farms to the next generation.

The above options are much more conducive overall than the short-term removal of $150 million from the PA Game Fund and the loss of $40 million in Pittman and Robertson funding.  Hunter-conservation should not have to pay for what agriculture is responsible for.  If a solution cannot be found within the confines of agriculture and its funding and revenue source; then the best outcome is option one above;  when the $220 million ACAP funding is depleted let the subsidy fund lapse until a dedicated funding stream can be found from agriculture and agriculture only.

The taxation of PGC real property is detrimental to the PA Game Fund and Pittman and Robertson.  The taxation and use as written in HB1300 are in violation of the PA Game Fund as associated with Pittman and Robertson Funding.  What can be done?

Option one: continue the tax exemption status of PGC real property allowing for monies to be used accordingly and PR monies not to be jeopardized.

Option two: as written the taxation revenue is intended for counties and municipalities where the PGC real property exists.  What is not written is how the counties and municipalities must use the revenue.  If feasible and does not violate any PR or Game Fund rules; establish a $10 million grant that counties and municipalities can use under the guidance of the PGC for conservation projects or efforts.  Every county and municipality would have access to the grant for the direct benefit of hunter-conservation and the commonwealth's wildlife resources.

Option three: There are 52,000 reported farms in PA.  Each of those producing $2,000 in income qualifies for tax exemptions.  Increase the tax exemption threshold by $1,000 from $2,000 to $3,000 resulting in an assessment of a $52 million increase in taxable revenue to counties, schools, and municipalities in the state.  With $7.8 billion in industrial income, this is affordable and will provide five times the tax revenue than the current proposal of $10 million from PGC real property and will negate the loss of Pittman and Robertson federal funding.  

Hunters generate $121 million in state and local taxes.  The direct economic benefit to the counties and municipalities is inherent in using these lands and properties.  The taxation of the PGC real property is truly not needed. 

Bottom line, the PA Game Fund, and Pittman and Robertson are crucial to hunter-conservation, the PGC, and the 480 species that depend on the funding to be there for habitat and conservation needs.  Any other use is strictly criminal. 

I hope this letter helps generate thought and discussion, provides alternatives, and solidifies why the $150 million and taxation of real property of PGC should not happen as dictated in HB1300.

The undersigned organizations support these options or others that do not jeopardize the PA Game Fund and federal Pittman and Robertson conservation funding.  To discuss these options and others that do not affect the conservation funds of Pennsylvania contact 717-350-6741.

/s/ Hunters United for Sunday Hunting

/s/ Hunter Nation

/s/ Keystone Conservation Action

/s/ Pennsylvania Cooperating Conservation Organizations