H. B. 2240


(By Delegates Boggs and Yeager)
[Introduced January 15, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact sections thirty, thirty-three and thirty-four, article two, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section thirty-four-a, all relating to providing an opportunity for persons purchasing or renewing hunting or fishing licenses to donate to the "Hunters Helping the Hungry program"; requiring every application for hunting and fishing licenses to contain a provision notifying the applicant of the option to donate to the program; authorizing the collection of donations by issuing authorities; and requiring donations be deposited in a special account to be used exclusively to support the program, including the payment of fees related to the butchering of game carcasses.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections thirty, thirty-three and thirty-four, article two, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section thirty-four-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.

§20-2-30. Application and statement of eligibility for licenses; application to apprise applicant of "hunters helping the hungry program"; procuring license in violation of chapter.

It shall be the duty of every person who makes application for or procures any class of license for himself or another to inform correctly the issuing authority that the applicant is eligible and fulfills the prerequisites of this chapter in respect to age, citizenship and residence which are necessary to entitle such person to have and hold the class of license applied for. In the case of an alien, the applicant shall produce the permit issued by the director. The possession of any class of license by any licensee shall presume that such licensee or his agent has duly informed the issuing authority that the licensee in question was eligible to have, hold and procure the class of license so issued. It shall be unlawful for any person to make false application for or procure a license in violation of the provisions of this chapter. It shall not be necessary for the state to prove, in any proceeding for an offense hereunder, that false statements were or were not made, if it be established that the licensee possessed a class of license he was not entitled to possess, or the license procured by the offender for another was of a class the licensee was not entitled to possess.
(a) Every person who applies for any class of license must state to the issuing agent that he or she is eligible for and has satisfied all prerequisites for that class of license. It is unlawful for a person to make a false statement in an application for any hunting, fishing or trapping license.
(b) Every application for a license, whether the application is printed or electronically displayed, must state in bold face letters that the applicant may voluntarily donate money to the "hunters helping the hungry program" by checking a box on the application form. Each application form shall provide boxes whereby the applicant may designate a donation in the amount of one, three, five or ten dollars, or enter another amount that the applicant wishes to donate to the program.
§20-2-33. Authority of director to designate agents to issue licenses; bonds; fees.
(a) The director may appoint, in addition to the clerk of the county commission, agents to issue licenses under the provisions of this article to serve the convenience of the public. Each person appointed shall, before issuing any license, file with the director a bond payable to the state of West Virginia, in the amount to be fixed by the director, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his or her obligation to issue licenses only in conformity with the provisions of this article and to account for all license fees received by him or her. The form of the bond shall be prescribed by the attorney general. No person, other than those designated as issuing agents by the director, shall may sell licenses or buy the licenses for the purposes of resale.
(b) Except when a license is purchased from a state official, every person making application for a license shall pay, in addition to the license fee prescribed for it in this article, an additional fee of seventy-five cents to any county official issuing the license and all fees collected by county officials shall be paid by them into the general fund of the county treasury or, in the case of an agent issuing the license, an additional fee of one dollar as compensation: Provided, That only one fee of seventy-five cents or one dollar shall may be collected by county officials or authorized agents, respectively, for issuing two or more licenses at the same time for use by the same person or for issuing combination resident statewide hunting, trapping and fishing licenses: Provided, however, That licenses may be issued electronically in a manner prescribed by the director, and persons purchasing electronically issued licenses may be assessed, in addition to the license fee prescribed in this article, an electronic issuance fee to be prescribed by the director.
(c) In lieu of the license issuance fee prescribed in subsection (b) of this section, the director shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, governing the application for and issuance of licenses by telephone and other electronic methods.
(d) Whether a license is issued pursuant to a printed form, electronically or otherwise, any amount of money that the applicant donates to the "hunters helping the hungry program" shall be collected by the state official, county official or other issuing agent in the same manner as license fees are collected.
§20-2-34. Disposition of license fees; reports of agents; special funds and uses.

(a) All persons in this state who receive money for licenses and permits required by this chapter, or as donations for the "hunters helping the hungry program" made in conjunction with license applications, shall, on the first day of each month, pay over to the director all moneys so collected by them during the preceding month. Such The payment shall be accompanied by a report showing, in the case of license fees or donated money, the name of the county, the class of license sold, the amount of any donation, the names and addresses of the persons paying the same license fees and donated moneys, the date of the receipt thereof, the signature of the person receiving and remitting such the funds, and such other information as the director may deem determine necessary.
(b) Except where other provisions of this chapter specifically require and direct payment of any such moneys into designated funds for specific uses and purposes, all moneys so received by the director hereunder as license fees shall be by him or her promptly paid into the state treasury and shall be credited to the department division of natural resources and shall be further credited to and kept in a separate fund designated "license fund-- wildlife resources" which shall be used and paid out, upon order of the director solely for law enforcement and for purposes directly relating to the conservation, protection, propagation and distribution of wildlife in this state pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
No funds from the "license fund--wildlife resources" shall may be expended for recreational facilities or activities that are used by or for the benefit of the general public, rather than purchasers of hunting and fishing licenses.
Of the annual license fund income, the director shall retain ten percent for capital improvements and land purchases benefitting state wildlife, forty percent shall be budgeted to the wildlife resources division, forty percent to law enforcement and ten percent apportioned by the director within provisions of this section. Any unexpended moneys for capital improvements and land purchases shall be carried forward.
All interest generated from game and fish license fees after the thirty-first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, shall be used by the director for the department division of natural resources in the same manner as is provided for the use of license fees.
(c) Moneys received as donations for the "hunters helping the hungry program" shall be deposited in the state treasury in a special revenue account created prior to enactment of this subsection and known as the "hunters helping the hungry fund."
§20-2-34a. The "hunters helping the hungry fund"; disposition of moneys therefrom.

(a) The "hunters helping the hungry fund" may receive any gifts, grants, contributions or other moneys from any source which is specifically designated for deposit in the fund. Expenditures from the fund are for the purposes set forth in this section.
(b) Nothing in this article may be construed to mandate funding for the "hunters helping the hungry program" or to require any appropriation by the Legislature.
(c) The director may expend, as an offset against administrative costs of the "hunters helping the hungry program," no more than one-tenth of all moneys donated to the program. The director shall disburse to eligible participants no less than nine-tenths of all moneys donated to the "hunters helping the hungry program."
(d) An eligible participant is a nonprofit or not-for-profit organization that coordinates, with the division of natural resources and with other entities, a statewide system for the distribution of meat products derived from the butchering of donated game carcasses by a person licensed under the provisions of article two-b, chapter nineteen, of this code.
(e) Eligible participants who receive moneys from the program fund may expend the moneys for the butchering of game carcasses, or for other expenses related to the acquisition and distribution of food to residents of West Virginia.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide an opportunity for persons purchasing or renewing hunting or fishing licenses to donate to the "Hunters Helping the Hungry Program" which is created. It requires every application for hunting and fishing licenses to contain a provision notifying the applicant of the option to donate to the program; authorizes the collection of donations by issuing authorities; and requires donations to be deposited in a special account to be used exclusively to support the program, including the payment of fees related to the butchering of game carcasses.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

 §20-2-34a is new; therefore strike-throughs and underscoring are omitted.