Why It Matters: Early September often marks the return of year-round legislatures to their respective state capitols, and Lansing is no exception. Upon their return, Michigan legislators will be greeted with a handful of sporting bills – some that advance the interests of sportsmen and women, and some that do not. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) will continue to work with the Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus to support the positive sporting bills and oppose the negative.
Highlights:
- A package of bills that would create a regulatory framework for commercial hunting and fishing guides while simultaneously improving harvest reporting practices in the state passed the Senate earlier this year, and now lies in wait in the House.
- A pair of bills have been introduced in the House that would statutorily require that anti-hunters occupy seats on both the Michigan Wildlife Council and the Wolf Management Advisory Council.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation is committed to advancing the interests of hunters, anglers, recreational shooters, and trappers, and will work closely with in-state partners and legislators to achieve the best possible outcomes for the state’s sporting community.
Upon their return to Lansing, members of the Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus will be tackling multiple bills relevant to sportsmen and women in the Great Lakes State. CSF, which worked closely with legislators throughout the first half of the 2023 session, will pick up where the legislature left off before recessing and inform legislators of the impacts – both positive and negative – that these bills will have on Michigan’s robust sporting community.
In May, CSF testified in support of a sporting bill package that passed the Senate and is now waiting to be considered in the House. Senate Bills 103, 104, and 105 would install a regulatory framework for commercial hunting and fishing guides and would impose reporting requirements to help the Michigan Department of Natural Resources better understand where Michigan sportsmen and women are targeting certain species and how successful their efforts are.
The following month, a pair of bills were introduced that would statutorily require that positions on both the Michigan Wildlife Council – which exists to educate the public on the massive role that hunters and anglers play in conservation – and the state’s Wolf Management Advisory Council be reserved for anti-hunting interests. Although these bills, House Bills 4855 and 4856, did not gain immediate traction upon being introduced, and similar legislation has been introduced in previous sessions, CSF will advocate against these bills, which undermine the very principles of conservation in America.
Now that recesses are wrapping up for year-round legislatures, CSF will continue to be the voice of sportsmen and women in the halls of state capitols across the country by supporting positive sporting legislation and opposing negative.
