HF 2283 – Allows for loaded and uncased firearms to be carried on ATVs and snowmobiles
HF 2342 – Allows for electronic signatures on hunting, fishing, and fur-harvester licenses
HF 2343 – Extends the time you can possess a fur-bearing animal pelt
HF 2357 – Creates a turtle harvesting season/bag limits for both commercial/noncommercial
HF 2385 – Increasing penalties for illegal dumping
FLOOR & COMMITTEE ACTION:
HF 2342 would allow the use of electronic signatures for signing hunting or fishing licenses. Currently, all signatures must be in ink.
[Floor 3/15: 49-0 (Chapman absent); Committee 3/11: short form]
HF 2343 extends the time a hunter or trapper may possess game or fur-bearing animals and their pelts. A person could possess or store lawfully taken game or fur-bearing animals or their pelts until the day before the following season. This gives more time for trappers to market their pelts or for hunters to use the meat from game they have harvested. Currently, they have only 30 days after the close of the season when the animal was taken.
[Floor 3/15: 49-0 (Chapman absent); Committee 3/11: short form]
HF 2357 requires the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to establish seasons and daily bag limits for commercial and noncommercial turtle harvesting. The seasons must not restrict the noncommercial harvesting of snapping turtles. In addition, DNR must review Iowa’s turtle population by region beginning by January 1, 2017, and ending no earlier than January 1, 2021. DNR must then report their findings and recommendations on revising restrictions by June 30, 2021.
[Floor 3/15: 47-2 (Costello, Kraayenbrink “no”; Chapman absent); Committee 3/11: short form]
COMMITTEE ACTION:
HF 2283 would allow riders of ATVs and snowmobile to carry loaded weapons. Current law prohibits loaded weapons on these vehicles except when an individual is nonambulatory. As amended, the bill would restrict use of loaded long guns (rifles or shotguns) on ATVs to those operating the vehicle on property they own or control. Those riding snowmobiles or ATVs on property that they do not own or control would need a valid carry permit, and the only loaded weapon they could carry would be a handgun (pistol or revolver), which must be worn in a retention holster. Landowners could also have loaded handguns and would not need a valid permit to carry a loaded handgun or long gun.
[3/11: short form (Bolkcom “no”)]
HF 2385 increases penalties for illegal dumping. The bill defines illegal dumping as litter exceeding 10 pounds in weight or 15 cubic feet in volume. As approved by the House, the bill makes illegal dumping a serious misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $315 to $1,875. An amendment adopted by the committee would re-establish the civil penalty for illegal dumping and establish a scheduled fine for violations: $1,000 penalty for the first violation, $2,000 penalty for the second violation, and $3,000 for the third violation, as well as subsequent violations. Making the violation a civil penalty would not carry the potential of jail time for illegal dumping.
[3/11: short form]