Quote :

PGC’s Point of Sale in Jeopardy For years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) has been trying to implement its Point of Sale (POS) licensing system to modernize its license sales system.  In the past couple of months, Automated Licensing Systems (ALS) was able to finalize the POS system and the PGC hopes to begin selling hunting and furtaker license on June 15.   HB 92 provides that the transaction costs associated with the POS system be assessed to the license buyer, and is identical to the language included in the legislation that was passed when the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission moved to a fully automated licensing system.   HB 92 passed the House Game & Fisheries Committee with no negative votes.  It was then scheduled to pass the entire House on Feb. 11, but it ran into a snag.  It seems some Members of the House are skeptical of HB 92 because its passage would result in what some perceive as a “license fee (tax) increase.” In the current economic environment, any legislation that increases fees is automatically viewed negatively.  As a result, it is now going to take a major effort on our part to pass what would usually be considered a non-controversial bill.   POS needs your help!  Without HB 92, the PGC may have to pull the plug on POS. Please contact your state Representative and state Senator to voice your support for HB 92.   (Find your local representatives:  http://www.legis.state.pa.us/ ) Here is what is at stake: all told, the PGC sells roughly 2.5 million licenses per year.  This figure includes general licenses, archery and muzzleloader stamps, as well as migratory game bird, bear and antlerless deer licenses.  The contract with ALS provides that ALS shall receive a $.70 fee for each license sold.  If you take 2.5 million licenses and multiply that by a transaction fee of 70 cents for each license, you get a total cost of about $1.75 million dollars.  If HB 92 does not pass, the PGC would be contractually obligated to pay this sum to ALS.  And, given the fact that the PGC has not had a license increase in 10 years, the PGC would have little choice but to discontinue the POS system entirely and revert back to the old paper system rather than absorb the $1.75 million cost of the system.  That is right: as the project is about to cross the finish line it gets tripped up over 70 cents! As you contact your Representatives and Senators about HB 92, here are some additional benefits of a Point-of-Sale System to keep in mind.  POS would: ·         Reduce the time associated with the license buying process; ·         Streamline the antlerless license application process by allowing license buyers to send their antlerless license application directly to any county treasure in the state; ·         Allow a hunter applying for an antlerless license to prioritize what Wildlife Management Unit he/she would like to receive an antlerless tag from, and if a hunter's first choice of management unit is sold out, he/she will automatically be considered for a license in the next Wildlife Management Unit of his/her choosing; ·         Allow the PGC to move up the antlerless application deadlines so that hunters in Special Regulation Areas can receive their antlerless tags before the start of the early antlerless archery season; ·         Eliminate the requirement that a license buyer provide their social security number onto a license application. Under the POS system, a license buyer will swipe his driver's license through a magnetic reader, be assigned a permanent customer identification number, and have all of his licenses printed out instantly; ·         Print new licenses on weather-resistant material; ·         Pre-print harvest tags with the license buyer’s personal information so that a successful hunter need only enter the time, date and place of harvest; ·         Allow the PGC to modernize its harvest reporting system by permitting a successful hunter to report a deer or harvest online, and thereby pave the way for improving harvest reporting rates. We would get all this for a 70 cent transaction fee.   If you believe that updating our licensing system is worth the cost, I urge you to contact your Representative and Senator and ask them to support HB 92.  Even just a brief email or phone call saying "we want Point of Sale fully implemented, so please pass HB 92 ASAP" will let your representatives know that there is broad support for the bill. Thanks for your help on this important issue. Melody Following is PFSC's letter to legislators. Dear Representative, On behalf of the 101,000 plus sportsmen and women the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs represent, as well as all those who buy hunting & furtaking licenses in the Commonwealth, we ask that you support HB 92, which allows the vendor transaction fees to be passed on to the purchaser. The sportsmen and women of PA have been anxiously awaiting the implementation of a Point of Sale licensing system, and any delay in passing this legislation will delay the Game Commission's ability to fully implement the program before the 2009/2010 licenses go on sale in June. We have been on record in support of increasing the general license fees by as much as $20 to maintain the financial integrity of our wildlife resource agencies, so a few dollars in transaction fees in return for the added convenience of an electronic system, is something we are more than willing to pay.  A pilot program has been up and running since September, and has been receiving positive feedback. Here is just a brief list of why we need and support this legislation to be passed ASAP: For the hunter:    Convenience    Weather resistant material     Social Security number can be taken off driver’s license when vendor swipes license through machine    New License style and shape     Wallet sized, no more back tag     Modernize Harvest Reporting method (Able to report kills online or toll free number)     Mentored youth hunters can be tracked, targeted     New marketing efforts will grow the sport     Allow for hunter surveys on participation and satisfaction                             Please support HB 92 so we can get the Point of Sale system up and running in full capacity! Melody Zullinger, Executive Director PA Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs 2426 North Second Street Harrisburg, PA  17110

What are they(legislators) thinking?  Starving the PGC again.

That's the idea....

and I'll gladly put on my tin-foil hat when it come to the governor and his "kissers" wanting to destroy the PGC..


think of all that land that they do not have to worry about forest certification or timbering plans... tourism here we come...  golf courses, ski lodges, cross-country four wheeling... trail ride for horses, state run stables for those horses....  oh yeah...

no public land for hunting so why do folks need guns now...  ?????

The touirsts from the cities will save our rural hertitage....


BUNK !!!!

Now, Now, settle down Doc before you have a heart attack. There is no such thing as a conspiricy to do any of that. You guys told me so, remember. Besides, your favorite governor appointed the most knowledgeable man he could find to head up the DCNR, just read his bio. Geez, your starting to sound just like me.

Quote :

GAME COMMISSION PRAISES PASSAGE OF HOUSE BILL 92 HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today offered his praise to the House of Representatives for its overwhelming and bi-partisan support of House Bill 92, which will enable the agency to fully transition to an electronic, point-of-sale license system, commonly referred to as Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS). Roe specifically noted his appreciation to House Game and Fisheries Committee Majority Chairman Edward Staback (D-60), who sponsored the bill, and to House Game and Fisheries Committee Minority Chairman Craig A. Dally (R-168), who co-sponsored the bill. “Transitioning to PALS has been something that our license buyers and members of the General Assembly have been urging the Game Commission to do for a number of years,” Roe said.  “We are excited about the many benefits that this new license sale system will provide to our license buying customers, our issuing agents and the agency. “I want to thank Reps. Staback and Dally, as well as all of the House members who voted in favor of this measure.  Also, I look forward to working with Senate Game and Fisheries Committee Majority Chairman Richard Alloway II (R-33) and Minority Chairman Richard A. Kasunic (D-32) to gain approval for this bill in the Senate so it can be sent to the Governor for action soon.” Under House Bill 92, license buyers would be assessed the actual transaction fee costs associated with implementing PALS.  Presently, the transaction fee is 70-cents per license or stamp purchased.  This fee would be paid directly to ALS, the Nashville-based company contracted to provide an electronic license sale system for the Game Commission, as well as the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. During the 2007-08 Legislative Session, the General Assembly approved a similar measure for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to assess transaction fees to the license buyer. When the 2009-10 licenses go on sale in mid-June, license buyers will swipe their Pennsylvania driver’s license through a magnetic reader and all of their personal information will be filled in on the application automatically. Hunters and trappers then will be able to select the licenses and stamps they want to purchase. Residents without a driver’s license, as well as nonresidents, will have to key-enter the data the first time they purchase a license through PALS.   Once an individual makes a purchase through PALS, license buyers will be assigned a permanent customer identification number that will be stored in an electronic file.  In subsequent years, license buyers only will need to enter changes in the types of licenses or stamps wanted or update their personal information. “This will not only speed up the license buying process, but it also will remove the burden of having to worry about identify theft,” Roe said.  “Once someone purchases a license through point-of-sale, we will no longer ask them for their Social Security Number or Hunter-Trapper Education certification, because that data will already be part of the database.  Senior lifetime license holders will no longer need to carry the lifetime license ID cards with them.” Roe noted that the new licenses will be printed on sturdy, weather-resistant yellow material.  The harvest tags, which are required for all big game, have perforated holes in them to make it easier to attach the tag to the animal.  Additionally, all personal information on the harvest tags will be completed, so all the hunter will need to do is enter the time, date and place of harvest. “Point-of-sale will make license buying easier for our customers, issuing agents and the Game Commission, and will – for the first time in our history – provide the agency with a database of its license buyers that will enable us to better communicate with them,” Roe said. Issuing agents stand to benefit from the system, as the new system will audit the books for them while they work. “This will greatly reduce the need for issuing agents to tie up so much of their money in bonds to secure the paper licenses they need to serve their customers,” Roe said. “The amount of bonds will, most likely, be decreased in the future, which will reduce the financial burden on issuing agents.” Lastly, Roe said that the Game Commission will benefit by fulfilling the agency’s goal of making its programs more user-friendly. “We will finally, after all of these years, have a computer database of all of our license buyers,” Roe said. “Such a database will enable the agency to conduct more surveys of our license buyers on a regular basis. We will no longer need to pay to data-enter the names, addresses and telephone numbers of license buyers from license sale books, which will reduce the costs associated with conducting surveys of our hunters and trappers. “And, once the point-of-sale system is fully in place, the Game Commission will be able to begin to significantly reduce our harvest reporting costs by enabling hunters who harvest a deer or turkey to report those harvests online or through a toll-free telephone number, as we will have the database necessary to validate such report submissions.” #    #    #