#1203502 - 04/19/1012:41 PM
Re: CT Fishing Lic. have been reduced!!!
[Re: OldSchool]
Tony Mel
Member
Registered: 01/24/08
Posts: 3160
Loc: West Hartford/Delray Beach
Originally Posted By: OldSchool
For the folks who are complaining about paying the higher fee's, one important thing to keep in mind.
Many of us held out on buying a license because we knew the money talked loudest. MAKE NO MISTAKE, IF WE ALL HAD PURCHASED LICENSES, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE ROLLED BACK THE FEE'S NO MATTER HOW LOUD WE WOULD HAVE COMPLAINED!
While your point has merit, it sets aside the critical and most significant factors in the fees rollback as attested by those who worked mostly on the issue. Please view the thread http://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ub...uto#Post1202158
While a boycott on licenses would have been an important message in the long run, it is doubtful that the DEP, let alone the legislator, would have collected, digested, and promulgate the fees-renewal numbers in 3.5 months or 6-months. The Coalition of CT Sportsmen, Rep Miner, phone calls,emails and letters, carried the victory in this short period and will in future fights..
The only reason I qualify the merit of your post is because there are and will be many sportsmen-legislative issues and the key tools to influence the legislature need to be kept in the forefront.
Let's recognize the "complaining for what is; symptomatic CTF group bitching that probably gives the participants a sense of group belonging and bonding but has no effect on the real world. It is harmless and good entertainment.
Edited by Tony Mel (04/19/1001:26 PM)
Our lakes, rivers and streams are borrowed from our children.
An excess of opinion resides at the juncture of not knowing what you don�t know. T. Melito
Life is like toilet paper: ur either on a roll or taking crap from some AH
"Our leaders are stupid, they are stupid people," "It's just very, very sad" - Donald Trump 2011
"With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? It sure sounds like it." - JAMES M. INHOFE
"Most meteorological research is funded by the federal government. And boy, if you want to get federal funding, you better not come out and say human-induced global warming is a hoax because you stand the chance of not getting funded." - WILLIAM GRAY
"The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span those hours spent in fishing" - Babylonian proverb
Tony, just to clarify, I was writing multiple letters to all my reps too, so I am not lessening the effect of that other effort including Mitch using this site as a springboard, but neither am I ignorant of the true mothers milk of politics $$$$
#1203638 - 04/19/1006:43 PM
Re: CT Fishing Lic. have been reduced!!!
[Re: OldSchool]
RayP
Member
Registered: 06/10/02
Posts: 462
Loc: Portland
Old School, I think you are right on the mark with this one. It's all about money and the state was using the raised license fees to make money. It's just like another tax on us. As soon as they thought they might loose money because of the reduced number of buyers they lowered the license fees.
"Nothing happens until something moves" 17' McKee Craft Center Console
The financial impact to the state due to 100% license fee increases was a major part of our site initiative. The entire "Preserve Fishing in Ct." section is all about the efforts of sportsmen to roll back the license fees. Zyg posted a thread with a PDF file that explained the impact to the state in lost revenue, jobs, retail sales, etc which could be printed and included in your letter or included in an email. Entire threads were centered around whether to buy licenses or not, what the YTD sales numbers were, etc. The letter campaign, phone calls and the message that this will cost the state money, eliminate entire groups of fishermen from the sport, and send residents to surrounding states was a main theme. Lots of us gave up seasons. I by-passed the March deadline for state land deer lottery and will miss that season for the first time ever. I did not buy the spring turkey tags and still won't. I won't do muzzleloader in the fall or fall turkey. All of the info about this entire fees issue was on the site for months. Just look at the topic titles in this section, it is all laid out. You only needed to know how to copy/paste and hit send to be a part of the campaign.
#1203734 - 04/19/1011:41 PM
Re: CT Fishing Lic. have been reduced!!!
[Re: OldSchool]
Tony Mel
Member
Registered: 01/24/08
Posts: 3160
Loc: West Hartford/Delray Beach
Originally Posted By: OldSchool
Tony, just to clarify, I was writing multiple letters to all my reps too, so I am not lessening the effect of that other effort including Mitch using this site as a springboard, but neither am I ignorant of the true mothers milk of politics $$$$
Old School,
We are on the same page. It takes a lot of bullets to win a war.
Your phrase , "the true mothers milk of politics $$$$" could be broadened. IMO the "mother milk" of most motivation is "what's in it for me" WINF. For those responsible for balancing the budget, increasing revenue is a WINF motivator. (although many of us would like to see budget cuts; unfortunately there are to many special interest to fight.) For politicians seeking reelection, attracting financial supporters and votes from the populace are a WINF motivator. For sportsmen the $20 fee-increase issue was a WINF motivator. WINF drives human behavior and makes the world go round.
In the fees fight it seems to me that the WINFs worked to towards our victory in a "perfect storm". At the center of the storm was our lobbyist, the Coalition of CT Sportsmen, CCS. CCS focused all the WINFs in Hartford to our benefit.
My WINF for commenting on your post was to bring back to focus a key player in the fees-fight, our lobbyist, Coalition of CT Sportsmen and to use this "soap box" to ask CTFers to support the CCS by becoming members. Click on http://www.ctsportsmen.com/
Edited by Tony Mel (04/19/1011:55 PM)
Our lakes, rivers and streams are borrowed from our children.
An excess of opinion resides at the juncture of not knowing what you don�t know. T. Melito
Life is like toilet paper: ur either on a roll or taking crap from some AH
Three cheers for the Connecticut General Assembly for lowering the fishing-license fee after hearing the complaints of their constituents.
But once again in the rush to pass legislation just in time for opening day of trout season, they forgot the tens of thousands of Connecticut outdoorsmen who had already laid out the higher fee on or about Jan. 1 so we could ice fish and hunt the remainder of hunting season.
There is no provision in the bill to refund those who paid the higher price.
I suspect those who waited until opening day to purchase fishing licenses were a very small percentage. Was the real intent to get all the money possible at the higher rate and then all the money possible at the lower rate? The vast majority of fishermen already had their license before the fee reduction went into effect, ensuring the discounted licenses went only to last-minute procrastinators.
So I contend the General Assembly did not respond to its constituency in a positive fashion, but rather developed a scheme to collect more money.
An interesting theory, but seems far fetched. The fishing license reduction was a part of the overall passing of the 2010 State budget, wasn't it? They may have held off on reconciling the State budget to get the fishing license fees, but that seems a bit crazy to me.
Militant Bluefish Jihadist
"Our leaders are stupid, they are stupid people," "It's just very, very sad" - Donald Trump 2011
"With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? It sure sounds like it." - JAMES M. INHOFE
"Most meteorological research is funded by the federal government. And boy, if you want to get federal funding, you better not come out and say human-induced global warming is a hoax because you stand the chance of not getting funded." - WILLIAM GRAY
"The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span those hours spent in fishing" - Babylonian proverb
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