California Fish and Game Code 710.5 – (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the department …
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the department continues to be inadequately funded to meet its mandates. While revenues have been declining, the department’s responsibilities have increased in order to protect public trust resources in the face of increasing population and resource management demands. The department’s revenues have been limited due to a failure to maximize user fees and inadequate non-fee-related funding. The limited department revenues have resulted in the inability of the department to effectively provide all of the programs and activities required under this code and to manage the wildlife resources held in trust by the department for the people of the state.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that the department has been largely supported by fees paid by those who utilize the resources held in trust by the department. It is the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent feasible, the department should continue to be funded by user fees. All fees collected by the department, including, but not limited to, recreational hunting and fishing licenses, landing fees, commercial licenses, permits and entitlements, and other fees for use of the resources regulated or managed by the department, are user fees. To the extent that these fees are appropriated through the Budget Act for the purposes for which they are collected to provide services to the people of the State of California, these user fees are not subject to XIII B of the California Constitution.
Terms Used In California Fish and Game Code 710.5
- Department: means the Department of Fish and Wildlife. See California Fish and Game Code 37
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Fish and Game Code 83
- User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
- Wildlife: means and includes all wild animals, birds, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and related ecological communities, including the habitat upon which the wildlife depends for its continued viability. See California Fish and Game Code 89.5
(c) The Legislature further finds and declares that user fees are not sufficient to fund all of the department’s mandates. To fulfill its mandates, the department must secure a significant increase in reliable funding, in addition to user fees.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 26, Sec. 2. (SB 92) Effective June 27, 2017.)