HARRISBURG (TNS) — Replacing the current pink envelope system of applying for doe licenses with an online system is on the way to the governor’s desk.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives, by a vote of 174-24 earlier this week, approved Senate Bill 431 to allow the Pennsylvania Game Commission to sell antlerless deer hunting permits through the online Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System.
The Pennsylvania Senate previously approved the bill 45-5.
If the governor signs it into law, doe licenses will be sold online, both directly by the commission and at participating vendors, just as other hunting licenses are now sold.
County treasurers, which currently are the only authorized vendors of doe licenses that must be applied for and issued through the U.S. Postal Service in the familiar pink envelopes, would be among the vendors under Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie County, who sponsored the bill, previously noted that the bill would “modernize and simplify the sale of these licenses. Antlerless deer licenses will be available through the county treasurer’s office, online and also point of sale.
“Because of the [Game Commission’s] recent updates to the Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System, hunters now have a more convenient and efficient way of applying for and receiving hunting licenses.”
Opponents of the move pointed to areas of Pennsylvania lacking access to internet, where hunters could be hindered by an electronic process.
The Sportsmen and Women Working Group, a coalition of hunting and fishing groups in Pennsylvania, helped to advocate for the change.
The Pennsylvania Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, part of that coalition, is urging sportsmen to get behind the bill, noting that it “will improve access for all to antlerless deer licenses by allowing for simple online application and remove the burden of the antiquated mail-in application system.
“More importantly, the burdensome mail-in system may be a barrier to hunting for new people just starting out in the sport and to Pennsylvania hunters living elsewhere, such as college students and those serving in the military. At a time when just about everyone in the hunting universe is working to attract new folks to the pursuit, roadblocks like the current antiquated antlerless license mail-in system simply must go.”
The Fiscal Note accompanying Laughlin’s bill noted, “While the commission does not believe it will account for a large percentage of licenses sold, any licenses sold directly by the commission will result in additional revenue due to the $1 sales commission not being owed for the use of automated licensing service.
}“In addition, the commission will realize a reduction in administrative costs of approximately $170,000.”
