20 Wednesday, April 3, 2013 The Montmorency County Tribune
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The Department of Natural Resources today reminded
anglers that a new fishing license season began Monday,
April 1. All 2012 fishing licenses expired on March 31,
2013.
Anglers have a choice of a variety of licenses and prices
are unchanged from 2012. Fishing license options in-
clude:
• 24-hour license (good for all species)
• 72-hour license (good for all species)
• Restricted license (good for the entire season for all
species except trout, salmon, lake sturgeon, lake herring,
amphibians, reptiles or crustaceans)
• All-species license (good for the entire season for all
species)
Visit the online version of the 2013 Fishing Guide for
license fee details.
Fishing license fees fund a variety of activities, includ-
ing fish management work on Michigan's waters, habi-
tat rehabilitation and protection, fish stocking, informa-
tion distribution, education and outreach efforts to an-
glers and the public, and much more. Fisheries Division
does not receive any general funds and depends on
angler fees, through license sales and federal excise tax
dollars for fishing tackle, to manage Michigan's fisher-
ies. The purchase of a fishing license, even for someone
who does not plan to fish, can make a big difference to
the future health of Michigan's prized waters and fisher-
ies.
There are three simple ways to purchase a fishing li-
cense in Michigan:
1. Visit a local license retailer or DNR Operations Ser-
vice Center and make a purchase in person.
2. Use the E-License system to buy a license online 24
hours a day, seven days a week. Just visit www.mdnr-
elicense.com to get started.
3. Visit the Mobile Fish website on your smartphone at
www.mi.gov/fish to buy a 24-hour all-species fishing
license. All that's needed is the purchaser's driver's li-
cense number and a credit or debit card.
For more information on fishing in Michigan, visit
www.michigan.gov/fishing.
I\
6
The House and Senate are on a two-week spring break,
so rather than votes this report instead contains several
recently introduced bills of interest.
Senate Bill 210: Increase charity sales tax exemption
Introduced by Sen. Michael Green (R), to exempt from
sales tax up to $25,000 in annual retail sales made by a
nonprofit organization for fundraising purposes, rather
than $5,000 under current law. At least 10 similar bills
raising the $5,000 cap have been introduced since 2002.
Referred to committee, no further action at this time.
Senate Bill 217: Require legislative votes on "Michi-
gan Strategic Fund" spending
Introduced by Sen. Bert Johnson (D), to require that all
money spent by the "Michigan Strategic Fund" must be
actually appropriated by the Legislature. This agency
oversees both government job training programs and
the state "economic development" apparatus that deliv-
ers selective corporate tax breaks and subsidies to par-
ticular firms. Under current law, state revenue from
Indian casino agreements goes directly to this agency
with no legislative vote or approval required. Referred to
committee, no further action at this time.
Senate Bill 221: Increase sex offender registry fees
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R), to require individu-
als on the public sex offender registry to payS50 each
year, rather than just a one-time $50 fee. Referred to
committee, no further action at this time.
Senate Bill 247: Authorize some 4 a.m. liquor licenses
Introduced by Sen. Virgil Smith, Jr. (D), to allow bars
and restaurants in a"central business district" of a city to
stay open until 4:00 a.m. if they pay a $I0,000 annual fee
and have extra bouncers and security cameras. Referred
to committee, no further action at this time.
Senate Bill 203: Prohibit employment for less than
mandated minimum wage
Introduced by Sen. Bert Johnson (D), to make it unlaw-
ful to employ a worker for less than $7.90 an hour begin-
ning in 2014, increasing in steps to $10 an hour in 2016,
notwithstanding any voluntary agreement between the
employer and employee. The current state minimum
wage level mandated for hourly employees not covered
by a federal wage mandate is $7.40 an hour. Referred to
committee, no further action at this time.
House Bill 4386: Prohibit employment for less than
mandated minimum wage
Introduced by Rep. Jon Switalski (D), the same bill as
the previous, except the mandated minimums would be
$8.20 an hour beginning July 1, 2013, and $9.00 an hour
in 2014. Referred to committee, no further action at this
time.
House Bill 4240: Ban unemployment benefits ff job
appficant refuses drug test
Introduced by Rep. Ken Goike (R), to prohibit unem-
ployment benefits for a person who refuses to take a drug
test required as part of a particular job application. Re-
ferred to committee, no further action at this time.
House Bill 4236: Restrict privatization of state services
Introduced by Rep. Jim Townsend (D), to prohibit the
privatization of government services unless the savings
to the state would be at least 10 percent of the cost of the
same service being performed by government workers.
The bill would also require any state department or
agency seeking to privatize any state services to conduct
a pre-privatization cost-benefit analysis, and also to im-
pose extensive disclosure and auditing mandates on any
contractor who receives such a contract." Referred to
committee, no further action at this time.
House Bill 4312: Authorize enhanced penalties for
drive-by shooting
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D), to authorize
up to life in prison for intentionally discharging a firearm
from a vehicle when this causes death (as in a "drive-by"
shooting), and 15 to 20 years if someone is injured. These
penalties would be on top of any imposed for assault,
attempted murder, etc. Referred to committee, no fur-
ther action at this time.
House Bill 4314: Create open records compliance
commission
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R), to create a state
commission comprised of lawmakers and media repre-
sentatives to investigate complaints about the state and
local governments' compliance with the Freedom of
Information Act, including fees charged and exemp-
tions or exclusions claimed. The commission couid refer
complaints to the state Attorney General and would have
the duty of recommending changes based on informa-
tion it gathers. Referred to committee, no further action
at this time.
House Bill 4328: Next year's state budget (non-educa-
tion)
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Haveman (R), Gov. Rick
Snyder's executive budget recommendation for the fis-
calyear that begins on Oct. 1, 2013. This would authorize
$36.605 billion in non-education state spending in the
fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, 2013, compared to
$34:355 billion enacted the previous year. (These are
"gross" spending amounts, not adjusted to reflect inter-
department transfers.) Some $18.955 billion of this will
come from federal government. The total executive bud-
get recommendation including education is $51.607 bil-
lion. House and Senate appropriations subcommittees
use this as the basis to craft actual department budgets,
and began advancing these last week.
Senate Bill 222: Next year's state budget (education)
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R), Gov. Rick Snyder's
public school, community college and university budget
recommendation for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1,
2013. This would appropriate $13.23 billion for K-12
public schools, compared to $12.81 billion authorized in
the previous year's budget. The bill also appropriates
$1.43 billion for state universities, compared to $1.39
billion enacted for this year. Community colleges would
get $335 million vs. $294 million enacted for this year.
House and Senate appropriations subcommittees use
this as the basis to craft the actual budgets, and began
advancing these last week.
