Purpose

• The bill updates and increases issuing fees for hunting and fishing licenses and amends Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 97A.485 subdivision 6. It details who can sell licenses, how much issuing fees are, and how those fees are handled.

Main Provisions

• Issuing fees by license category:
  • Deer or bear licenses ( firearms and archery ): issuing fee for residents and nonresidents listed (nonresident fees generally higher).
  • Minnesota sporting license: issuing fee specified.
  • Small game, fish by angling or spearing, and furbearing animal trapping: issuing fee specified for residents and nonresidents.
  • Limited hunt drawing: issuing fee amount (and any license purchase requirement tied to the application).
  • Prairie-chicken license: issuing fee specified.
  • Turkey license: issuing fee for residents and nonresidents.
  • Elk license: issuing fee specified.
  • Moose license: issuing fee specified.
  • Wolf license: issuing fee for residents and nonresidents.
  • Stamp validation not issued with a license: issuing fee of 50 cents may be charged at the seller’s discretion.
  • Stamp validations issued with a license: no issuing fee.
  • Licenses, seals, tags, or coupons issued without a fee under certain statutes: no issuing fee.
  • Lifetime licenses: no issuing fee.
  • All other licenses, permits, renewals, applications, or transactions through the electronic licensing system when a fee isn’t specified: issuing fee of $1 (at the discretion of the seller).
• In a single transaction:
  • Only one issuing fee may be charged if selling more than one stamp in the same transaction after the season ends.
• Fee ownership and collection:
  • The agent keeps the issuing fee as a commission for selling licenses.
  • The commissioner collects the issuing fee on licenses sold by the commissioner.
  • Any license (except stamps) must state the amount of the issuing fee and that the fee is kept by the seller as a commission.
• Duplicates:
  • For duplicate licenses (including licenses issued without a fee), the issuing fees are: $0.75 for licenses to take big game and $0.50 for other licenses.

Notable Changes and Effects

• Creates a structured schedule of issuing fees for many license types, with separate rates for residents versus nonresidents in several cases.
• Introduces or clarifies the practice that issuing fees are kept by the selling agent as a commission.
• Requires licenses to display the issuing fee and its commission status to buyers.
• Sets specific small fees for duplicate licenses and clarifies handling of stamp validations (some with fees, some without).
• Maintains no-fee status for lifetime licenses and certain other licenses/seals/tags/coupons under existing exemptions.

Additional Details

• The bill also covers situations where stamp validations are sold separately from licenses and where stamps are issued with or without fees.
• It references the electronic licensing system as the platform for many transactions and fees.

Purposeful Summary of Change

• This bill largely shifts how much fee revenue is collected (in many cases increasing or clarifying the issuing fees) and who collects and keeps those fees (selling agents as commissions), while tightening disclosure of fees to license purchasers. It also clarifies small, per-license fee amounts for duplicates and stamp-related transactions.

Relevant Terms

• issuing fee
• license
• resident vs nonresident
• deer license
• bear license
• firearms
• archery
• small game
• fishing by angling
• spearing
• furbearing animals
• limited hunt drawing
• prairie-chicken license
• turkey license
• elk license
• moose license
• wolf license
• stamp validation
• stamp
• seal
• tag
• coupon
• duplicate license
• electronic licensing system
• agent (license seller)
• commission
• commissioner
• lifetime license
• no fee