Sunday hunting proposal passes Pa. House. What's next?
A hunter walks across a field. (Getty Images)
For the second year in a row, a proposal to repeal Pennsylvania's Sunday hunting prohibition passed the state House in bipartisan fashion this week. After Wednesday's vote, a bevy of organizations have weighed in with some arguing it's past time to end the ban, while others say it would be a step backwards for the outdoor experience in Pennsylvania.
As the debate moves to the Senate, a key committee chair told the Capital-Star he's still evaluating House Bill 1431, but the legislation advancing seems like good news. Senate Game and Fisheries Committee Chairperson Greg Rothman (R-Cumberland) said he expects to have a debate and vote on it in the near future.
'I think it's an idea that's time has come,' Rothman told the Capital-Star on Thursday. 'Other states allow it. What we want to be doing as a state government is to promote hunting and make it as accessible as possible, especially to working families and to younger people.'
'And I think Sunday (hunting) gives them more opportunities,' he added. 'So the more opportunities to hunt gets more hunters, and helps us keep this great tradition alive in Pennsylvania.'
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The sale of hunting licenses generated more than $59 million in revenue for the Game Commission last year.
Rothman said he supports Sen. Dan Laughlin's (R-Erie) proposal to end the ban and believes that proposal would have the support in the chamber. Rothman said state Rep. Mandy Steele (D-Allegheny) assured him the language in her proposal is the same in Laughlin's. While the bill proposed by Laughlin also has the support of Sen. James Malone (D-Lancaster), the minority chair of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee, Rothman wants to go over the details of Steele's proposal to see if it can also pass the chamber.
Steele described the state's ban as 'archaic' and 'not based in the reality of today.'
Pennsylvania expanded Sunday hunting in 2019 when Gov. Tom Wolf signed a law to allow hunting on three Sundays each year: One during archery season, one during rifle season, and one Sunday selected by the Game Commission. Laughlin also led that effort.
Prior to the 2019 expansion, hunting had been mostly illegal on Sundays for over 200 years under the state's Blue Laws, which stem from the Quaker foundations of the commonwealth and barred certain activities on the sabbath.
'It's a law that most states have eliminated long ago,' Steele said during debate on the House floor, noting that with a Monday to Friday workweek, most people only have Saturday to hunt. 'Not being able to hunt on Sundays creates major hurdles for busy families. It's a significant barrier for working people.'
Steele described herself as 'not a typical hunter' and someone who did not grow up learning to hunt. But she spent a lot of time outdoors and later picked it up as an adult and mother of four children. She said she's been welcomed into the hunting community wholeheartedly.
'It has been a gratifying experience,' Steele said.
Her proposal is backed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, Hunter Nation, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.
The Game Commission celebrated the bill advancing Wednesday, issuing a statement referencing a number of reasons that it backs the measure.
'Though hunters play an active role in helping to manage wildlife populations through the purchase of their licenses and other revenue they generate, they also fund wildlife conservation at a larger scale, for all species,' Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith said. 'For those reasons and others, it's important to keep hunters engaged and providing the valuable service they do. These bills would help accomplish that.'
'One of the biggest reasons hunters stop hunting is a lack of time,' he added. 'While no one can add hours to the day or days to the week, removing the prohibition on Sunday hunting holds the potential to add significantly more time to the hunting calendar and keep hunters hunting.'
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The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau said expanding hunting could help reduce crop damage across the state by better managing deer populations. The bill would require at least one member of the Game Commission's Board of Commissioners to have an agriculture background.
The bill passed by a 131-72 vote on Wednesday, with support from most Democrats. Republicans were more divided on the matter.
The House unanimously approved an amendment to H.B. 1431, to restore the hunting rights of people charged with trespassing immediately upon their acquittal or dismissal of the charges. Other amendments were rejected, including one defeated along party lines that would move the first day of deer hunting season to the Monday after Thanksgiving.
The debate around Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania is far from new.
Last session, the House passed Steele's bill to repeal the Sunday hunting ban by a 129-73 vote. That bill did not advance in the Senate.
Rep. David Maloney, minority chairperson of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, opposed H.B. 1431 and argued that it is 'not a simple Sunday hunting piece of legislation.'
Touting his experience with hunting from a young age, Maloney said the bill would have 'unintended consequences.' The problems Maloney had with the proposal included the language regarding trespassing penalties, the requirement for a member of the agriculture community to be on the Game Commission Board, the power given to farmers to hunt deer, and negative impacts on waterfowl hunters.
He also said he doesn't buy the supporters' argument about free time. Maloney said since he began hunting at age 12, the opportunities to hunt throughout the year have more than doubled.
Maloney also said he believes the bill is unconstitutional because it violates the requirement that legislation must be limited to a single subject. For that reason, Maloney said he doesn't believe the Senate would consider it or Gov. Josh Shapiro would sign it.
Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware), one of the three Democrats who did not vote in support of H.B. 1431, said the Pennsylvania chapter of the Sierra Club, the Keystone Trails Association, and the Pennsylvania Parks and Forest Foundation oppose the bill.
Jen Quinn, legislative and political director for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club, told the Capital-Star the organization supports hunting and effective management of the deer population, but cited a number of concerns she has with the proposal.
'Our concern is that when people know there are hunters in the woods, are they going to stay out?' Quinn said.
She noted that it is relatively safe to be in the woods with hunters, but there are people who may decide to stay home instead of enjoying the outdoors when hunters are out.
Quinn also said she doesn't think the legislation would address the problem of deer overpopulation and the decline in hunting licenses.
'I doubt adding one more day will fix this, because the state did add three Sundays a few years ago, and it didn't reverse that trend,' Quinn said. She also said that the organization supports phasing out lead ammunition, arguing that it is harmful to wildlife.
Brook Lenker, executive director of the Keystone Trails Association, said the organization was disappointed that H.B. 1431 passed the House, even though it anticipated it might move on to the Senate. He's holding out hope that the Senate won't pass the bill.
'We just feel that additional Sundays open to hunting has the potential to erode quality hiking opportunities on Pennsylvania's trails … a lot of hiking occurs on weekends,' Lenker told the Capital-Star.
Steele or Laughlin's proposal would have to receive a vote in the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee before it could advance to a full vote in the chamber.
The Senate is slated to return to session on Monday, June 23.
Earlier this year, both Steele and Laughlin, who are leading the efforts in their respective chambers again this session, told the Capital-Star that they were optimistic the bill could get across the finish line.
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