Bill Text: IL HB3493 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the State Parks Act. Requires all persons or entities seeking to charge fees to participants, provide items for sale, or otherwise collect money or items as part of an event located on property or facilities that are owned, leased, or managed by the Department of Natural Resources to complete a permit to sell application form to obtain a permit to sell. Provides that all revenue generated from an event shall be subject to a 10% fee payable to the Department of Natural Resources upon completion of the event. Requires all funds received by the Department to be allocated to the site at which the fees were collected. Waives activity permit fees, permit to sell fees, the 10% facility fees, and facility usage fees for formally recognized Friends Groups and for all fishing tournaments and clubs. Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that resident military members returning from active duty, regardless of mobilization or deployment, shall receive one free hunting license, one free trapping license, one specified free Deer Hunting Permit, and one free State Habitat Stamp if the military member applies within 2 years of active duty service. Provides that hunting license fees for all resident veterans, regardless of deployment, shall be one-half of the current license fee amount. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-02-17 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB3493 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB3493-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3493 Introduced , by Rep. David Friess SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
20 ILCS 835/4d new
520 ILCS 5/3.1-4
520 ILCS 5/3.2 from Ch. 61, par. 3.2
Amends the State Parks Act. Requires all persons or entities seeking to charge fees to participants, provide items for sale, or otherwise collect money or items as part of an event located on property or facilities that are owned, leased, or managed by the Department of Natural Resources to complete a permit to sell application form to obtain a permit to sell. Provides that all revenue generated from an event shall be subject to a 10% fee payable to the Department of Natural Resources upon completion of the event. Requires all funds received by the Department to be allocated to the site at which the fees were collected. Waives activity permit fees, permit to sell fees, the 10% facility fees, and facility usage fees for formally recognized Friends Groups and for all fishing tournaments and clubs. Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that resident military members returning from active duty, regardless of mobilization or deployment, shall receive one free hunting license, one free trapping license, one specified free Deer Hunting Permit, and one free State Habitat Stamp if the military member applies within 2 years of active duty service. Provides that hunting license fees for all resident veterans, regardless of deployment, shall be one-half of the current license fee amount. Effective immediately.
LRB103 26990 RLC 53357 b
A BILL FOR
HB3493 LRB103 26990 RLC 53357 b
AN ACT concerning the Department of Natural Resources.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The State Parks Act is amended by adding
Section 4d as follows:
(20 ILCS 835/4d new)
Sec. 4d. Permit to sell. All persons or entities seeking
to charge fees to participants, provide items for sale, or
otherwise collect money or items as part of an event located on
property or facilities that are owned, leased, or managed by
the Department of Natural Resources shall complete a permit to
sell application form to obtain a permit to sell. All revenue
generated from an event located on property or facilities that
are owned, leased, or managed by the Department of Natural
Resources shall be subject to a 10% fee payable to the
Department upon completion of the event. An activity permit
application fee, not to exceed $25, may be deducted from the
permit to sell fees owed to the Department upon the completion
of the event. All funds received by the Department shall be
allocated to the site at which the fees were collected.
Activity permit fees, permit to sell fees, the 10% facility
fee, and facility usage fees shall be waived: (1) if the entity
is a formally recognized Friends Group of the site at which the

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event is held, and (2) for all fishing tournaments and clubs.
Section 10. The Wildlife Code is amended by changing
Sections 3.1-4 and 3.2 as follows:
(520 ILCS 5/3.1-4)
Sec. 3.1-4. Military members returning from active duty
service mobilization and service outside the United States.
(a) After returning from service abroad or mobilization by
the President of the United States as an active duty member of
the United States Armed Forces, the Illinois National Guard,
or the Reserves of the United States Armed Forces, an Illinois
resident may hunt and trap any of the species protected by
Section 2.2 of this Code without paying any fees required to
obtain a hunting license or a trapping license for the time
period prescribed by subsection (b) of this Section if the
Illinois resident applies for a license within 2 years after
returning from service abroad or mobilization. The applicant
shall provide acceptable verification of service or
mobilization to the Department. The Department shall establish
by administrative rule the procedure by which such
verification of service shall be made to the Department for
the purpose of issuing a license.
(b) Applicants For each year that an applicant served as
an active duty member of the United States Armed Forces, the
Illinois National Guard, or the Reserves of the United States

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Armed Forces and served abroad or was mobilized by the
President of the United States pursuant to subsection (a) of
this Section, the applicant shall receive one free hunting
license, one free trapping license, one free Deer Hunting
Permit as provided in Section 2.26 of this Code and rules
adopted pursuant to that Section, and one free State Habitat
Stamp. For the purposes of this determination, if the period
of active duty is a portion of a year (for example, one year
and 3 months), the applicant will be credited with a full year
for the portion of a year served.
(c) (Blank).
(c-5) An Illinois resident veteran may obtain an Illinois
Hunter Education card if the veteran he or she completes the
online study section of the Illinois Hunter Education program
and provides the Department with acceptable verification of
service or mobilization.
(d) For the purposes of this Section, "acceptable
verification of service or mobilization" means official
documentation from the Department of Defense or the
appropriate Major Command showing mobilization dates of or
service abroad dates, including: (i) a DD-214, (ii) a letter
from the Illinois Department of Military Affairs for members
of the Illinois National Guard, (iii) a letter from the
Regional Reserve Command for members of the Armed Forces
Reserve, (iv) a letter from the Major Command covering
Illinois for active duty members, (v) personnel records for

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mobilized State employees, and (vi) any other documentation
that the Department, by administrative rule, deems acceptable
to establish dates of mobilization or service abroad.
(e) (Blank). For the purposes of this Section, the term
"service abroad" means active duty service outside of the 50
United States and the District of Columbia, and includes all
active duty service in territories and possessions of the
United States.
(Source: P.A. 102-524, eff. 8-20-21; 102-780, eff. 5-13-22.)
(520 ILCS 5/3.2) (from Ch. 61, par. 3.2)
Sec. 3.2. Hunting license; application; instruction.
Before the Department or any county, city, village, township,
incorporated town clerk or his duly designated agent or any
other person authorized or designated by the Department to
issue hunting licenses shall issue a hunting license to any
person, the person shall file his application with the
Department or other party authorized to issue licenses on a
form provided by the Department and further give definite
proof of identity and place of legal residence. Each clerk
designating agents to issue licenses and stamps shall furnish
the Department, within 10 days following the appointment, the
names and mailing addresses of the agents. Each clerk or his
duly designated agent shall be authorized to sell licenses and
stamps only within the territorial area for which he was
elected or appointed. No duly designated agent is authorized

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to furnish licenses or stamps for issuance by any other
business establishment. Each application shall be executed and
sworn to and shall set forth the name and description of the
applicant and place of residence.
No hunting license shall be issued to any person born on or
after January 1, 1980 unless he presents the person authorized
to issue the license evidence that he has held a hunting
license issued by the State of Illinois or another state in a
prior year, or a certificate of competency as provided in this
Section. Persons under 18 years of age may be issued a Lifetime
Hunting or Sportsmen's Combination License as provided under
Section 20-45 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code but shall not
be entitled to hunt alone, without the supervision of an adult
age 21 or older, unless they have a certificate of competency
as provided in this Section and the certificate is in their
possession while hunting.
The Department of Natural Resources shall authorize
personnel of the Department or certified volunteer instructors
to conduct courses, of not less than 10 hours in length, in
firearms and hunter safety, which may include training in bow
and arrow safety, at regularly specified intervals throughout
the State. Persons successfully completing the course shall
receive a certificate of competency. The Department of Natural
Resources may further cooperate with any reputable association
or organization in establishing courses if the organization
has as one of its objectives the promotion of safety in the

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handling of firearms or bow and arrow.
The Department of Natural Resources shall designate any
person found by it to be competent to give instruction in the
handling of firearms, hunter safety, and bow and arrow. The
persons so appointed shall give the course of instruction and
upon the successful completion shall issue to the person
instructed a certificate of competency in the safe handling of
firearms, hunter safety, and bow and arrow. No charge shall be
made for any course of instruction except for materials or
ammunition consumed. The Department of Natural Resources shall
furnish information on the requirements of hunter safety
education programs to be distributed free of charge to
applicants for hunting licenses by the persons appointed and
authorized to issue licenses. Funds for the conducting of
firearms and hunter safety courses shall be taken from the fee
charged for the Firearm Owners Identification Card.
The fee for a hunting license to hunt all species for a
resident of Illinois is $12. For residents age 65 or older and
, and, commencing with the 2012 license year, resident
veterans of the United States Armed Forces, regardless of
deployment, after returning from service abroad or
mobilization by the President of the United States as an
active duty member of the United States Armed Forces, the
Illinois National Guard, or the Reserves of the United States
Armed Forces, the fee is one-half of the fee charged for a
hunting license to hunt all species for a resident of

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Illinois. Veterans must provide to the Department acceptable
verification of their service. The Department shall establish
by administrative rule the procedure by which such
verification of service shall be made to the Department for
the purpose of issuing resident veterans hunting licenses at a
reduced fee. The fee for a hunting license to hunt all species
shall be $1 for residents over 75 years of age. Nonresidents
shall be charged $57 for a hunting license.
Nonresidents may be issued a nonresident hunting license
for a period not to exceed 10 consecutive days' hunting in the
State and shall be charged a fee of $35.
A special nonresident hunting license authorizing a
nonresident to take game birds by hunting on a game breeding
and hunting preserve area only, established under Section
3.27, shall be issued upon proper application being made and
payment of a fee equal to that for a resident hunting license.
The expiration date of this license shall be on the same date
each year that game breeding and hunting preserve area
licenses expire.
Each applicant for a State Migratory Waterfowl Stamp,
regardless of his residence or other condition, shall pay a
fee of $15 and shall receive a stamp. The fee for a State
Migratory Waterfowl Stamp shall be waived for residents over
75 years of age. Except as provided under Section 20-45 of the
Fish and Aquatic Life Code, the stamp shall be signed by the
person or affixed to his license or permit in a space

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designated by the Department for that purpose.
Each applicant for a State Habitat Stamp, regardless of
his residence or other condition, shall pay a fee of $5 and
shall receive a stamp. The fee for a State Habitat Stamp shall
be waived for residents over 75 years of age. Except as
provided under Section 20-45 of the Fish and Aquatic Life
Code, the stamp shall be signed by the person or affixed to his
license or permit in a space designated by the Department for
that purpose.
Nothing in this Section shall be construed as to require
the purchase of more than one State Habitat Stamp by any person
in any one license year.
The fees for State Pheasant Stamps and State Furbearer
Stamps shall be waived for residents over 75 years of age.
The Department shall furnish the holders of hunting
licenses and stamps with an insignia as evidence of possession
of license, or license and stamp, as the Department may
consider advisable. The insignia shall be exhibited and used
as the Department may order.
All other hunting licenses and all State stamps shall
expire upon March 31 of each year.
Every person holding any license, permit, or stamp issued
under the provisions of this Act shall have it in his
possession for immediate presentation for inspection to the
officers and authorized employees of the Department, any
sheriff, deputy sheriff, or any other peace officer making a

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demand for it. This provision shall not apply to Department
owned or managed sites where it is required that all hunters
deposit their license, permit, or Firearm Owner's
Identification Card at the check station upon entering the
hunting areas.
For the purposes of this Section, "acceptable
verification" means official documentation from the Department
of Defense or the appropriate Major Command showing
mobilization dates or service abroad dates, including: (i) a
DD-214, (ii) a letter from the Illinois Department of Military
Affairs for members of the Illinois National Guard, (iii) a
letter from the Regional Reserve Command for members of the
Armed Forces Reserve, (iv) a letter from the Major Command
covering Illinois for active duty members, (v) personnel
records for mobilized State employees, and (vi) any other
documentation that the Department, by administrative rule,
deems acceptable to establish dates of mobilization or service
abroad.
For the purposes of this Section, the term "service
abroad" means active duty service outside of the 50 United
States and the District of Columbia, and includes all active
duty service in territories and possessions of the United
States.
(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 102-780, eff. 5-13-22.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.