LANSING — A late push for increased DNR funding fell flat in December’s lame duck session, with the state Legislature failing to approve the proposals in time.
The main proposal would have flipped the state recreation passport program from opt-in to opt-out, meaning that the $14 enrollment option would be selected by default when renewing a vehicle’s registration.
Drivers could have opted out by unchecking that box while registering or submitting a refund request after.
Northern Michigan lawmakers welcomed the news, saying that the approach could have led to some drivers unknowingly paying for the service.
“I love the program — I think it’s a great program, but I thought it was disingenuous for the DNR to go ahead and make everybody pay for it, unless they went through a procedure to to get their money back,” said Rep. Ken Borton, (R) Gaylord.
DNR officials say that the changes were estimated to increase passport enrollment from around 40% to 60%, which would have generated an additional $17 million a year.
Ron Olson, chief of parks and recreation for the department, says that the change would have brought the DNR closer to its goal of bringing in $45 million annually for park maintenance.
“We wanted to give people a chance to think about the legacy of and the value of the state parks and what they bring to the state, keeping young people there and creating quality of life for everybody,” Olson said.
The passport proposal made it though the House with party-line support, but was not brought up in the Democratic controlled Senate before they adjourned.
Lawmakers also considered a plan to increase the price of hunting licenses, fishing licenses and boat registration by about 50%, along with reducing senior discounts from 60% off to 25% off.
Taylor Ridderbusch, executive policy advisor for the DNR, says that the proposals are in line with fee increases the department requests about every 10 years.
“This is one of the few ways that we have to generate revenue, to, again, maintain those services that we already provide, and then also to continue to expand services in areas where our stakeholders and user base want us to,” he said.
Ridderbusch added that boating registration pricing hasn’t been increased since 1993, and that newer trends like larger pontoon boats warrant a revision to those rates.
DNR officials say they may introduce similar funding proposals this session — but under a Republican majority that has been critical of the department’s previous asks, it could be an uphill battle.
“it’s uncertain as to what the next step would be, and if it does resurface or come back, or if we need to just continue down the road we were on and and make the best of it,” Olson said.