Game Committee 10-12-06
INTRODUCED IN HOUSE
HB 3007 Semmel: Amending P.L. 1860, No. 586, an Act encouraging landowners to make land and water areas available to the public for recreational purposes by limiting liability in connection therewith.
This Legislation is in response to a September 8 jury decision in a court case stemming from a November 2004 incident, where a pregnant woman was struck in the head by a hunter’s stray bullet (she has since recovered, and delivered a healthy baby girl).
The woman sued both the hunter and the landowner, where her attorney argued that the landowner showed “complete disregard” for public safety by allowing the hunter to hunt his land. The jury found the hunter 90% liable, and the landowner 10% liable. The hunter could not afford an attorney and probably can’t afford to pay any judgment as well. Pennsylvania law has a legal concept called “joint and several” (J&S). Under J&S, if the party that is mostly liable cannot pay, the party that is partly liable would pay 100% of the judgment. In this case, the property has considerable financial value.
The damages phase of the trial won’t take place for several months, and the appeal trials will probably take years. The 1965 Pennsylvania law titled “The Recreational Use of Land and Water Act”, designed to protect landowners in cases like this, was brought up by the landowner’s attorney, but the judge ruled that it didn’t apply.
The precedent set in this case is sobering. Already, some landowners are closing their property to hunting. In jeopardy is the Game Commission’s “Red Tag” program (and the consequential financial loss to farmers due to crop damage from deer), as well as DMAP on private land.
HB 3007 was introduced to strengthen present law, protecting a landowner from liability by acts, or acts of omission, from recreational users of his land.
J&S is a legal tool used by “contingency fee” trial lawyers to extract large settlements. The State Legislature passed a tort reform bill this past year reforming J&S, but it was vetoed by Governor Rendell.
Game Commission News Release #131-06 Oct. 3, 2006 (excerpt)
BOARD TAKES STEPS TO PREPARE FOR ELECTRONIC LICENSE SALES
To make the agency's license sales system more customer friendly, the Board of Game Commissioners today gave preliminary approval to a slate of regulatory changes to pave the way for a point-of-sale electronic license sales system beginning with the 2007-08 license year.
The Game Commission and Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission have been working to replace their own individual paper-based licensing systems with a common computer-based automated licensing system.
"Implementing this computerized POS licensing system within Pennsylvania will significantly streamline the application and purchase process for customers, virtually eliminate manual auditing and reporting for agents, and provide opportunities for the Game Commission to monitor license administration," said Dorothy Derr, Game Commission Bureau of Administrative Services director. "In addition, the data from the POS licensing system will enable the agency to monitor license sales, create strategic business plans based on trend analysis and, most importantly, create marketing plans based on more accurate customer demographics.
"To move the process to the next level, there are various regulatory provisions that must be amended to accommodate the POS licensing system prior to it becoming operational."
One of the key benefits of POS will be the issuing of a permanent, unique customer identification number. Once implemented, this provision will eliminate the need for license buyers to provide their Social Security number beyond the first year of the individual purchasing a license.
License buyers will swipe their driver's license through a magnetic reader - similar to an automatic teller machine at a bank - that will insert into the online application all current personal data, such as name, address and date of birth. The customer will then choose the licenses and stamps desired. Once payment is made, all purchased licenses and stamps, as well as big game harvest tags, will be printed on a waterproof, tear-resistant material.
By state law, antlerless deer licenses will continue to only be sold by county treasurers, so hunters will need to prepare and mail separate applications for antlerless deer licenses. However, under POS, the system will be modified to the benefit of hunters and county treasurers.
As county treasurers will be set up with POS, hunters will be able to submit an application to any county treasurer, and the application will list the hunter's first three choices, in order of preference, for a specific Wildlife Management Unit antlerless deerlicense. If an applicant's first choice of WMU has exhausted its allocation of antlerless deer licenses, the county treasurer will move to the second preference - and third, if necessary.
"This new process will nearly eliminate the chance that a hunter will not be able to receive at least one antlerless deer license during the processing of regular antlerless deer licenses," Derr said. "Also, we have proposed to move up the beginning of the application period, which will ensure that county treasurers will have mailed back to hunters all antlerless deer licenses prior to the opening of the archery season."
Under the new timeline, residents will apply for regular antlerless deer licenses on the third Monday in July (rather than the first Monday in August); nonresidents will apply for regular antlerless deer licenses on the last Monday in July (rather than the third Monday in August); residents and nonresidents will apply for the first round of unsold antlerless deer licenses on the first Monday in August (rather than the second Monday in September); and residents and nonresidents will apply for the second round of unsold antlerless deer licenses on the third Monday in August (rather than the third Monday in September).
County treasurers will have to mail regular and first round of unsold antlerless deer licenses no later than the second Monday in September, and second round of unsold antlerless deer licenses no later than the fourth Monday in September.
Beginning the fourth Monday in August, county treasurers will begin accepting applications over the counter for designated WMUs, and may immediately issue antlerless deer licenses.
Other benefits from the implementation of POS are:
* Those interested in submitting an application for the bobcat permit and elk license drawing when they purchase their licenses rather than having to submit separate applications via the mail;
* Hunters can process their Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) antlerless deer coupons for permits rather than having to wait for permits to be mailed;
* Those interested in purchasing a second spring gobbler license can do so at the time of purchase rather than waiting until after January 1;
* Hunters will be able to submit big game harvest reports via the Internet, as the agency will finally have a method in place to validate harvest report submissions with license sales information.
Each issuing agent will receive one POS, and be able to lease a second if necessary. Other benefits to issuing agents include reduced time to maintain security of licenses and sales books; streamlined reporting of license sales; and a self-auditing system.
All license sales information will be reported directly via the POS, and all license fees will be electronically transferred into the Game Fund on a weekly basis.