January 31, 2019 (Washington, DC) – Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Co-Chair Congressman Austin Scott (GA), along with fellow CSC leaders Representatives Marc Veasey (TX), Debbie Dingell (MI), and Richard Hudson (NC), introduced the Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson Fund for Tomorrow’s Needs Act (H.R. 877), an important bill for the future of wildlife conservation funding.
“Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus leadership has made this important legislation a priority by introducing it in the first month of the 116th Congress. Providing more flexibility to state agencies to use Pittman-Robertson (P-R) dollars for recruitment and retention of hunters and recreational shooters is an important step to ensure the future of state-based conservation funding,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President Jeff Crane.
Through the American System of Conservation Funding, sportsmen and women contribute nearly $800 million annually from hunting and recreational shooting-related excise taxes to the Pittman-Robertson Fund. These funds are apportioned back to state fish and wildlife agencies for conservation programs.
If H.R. 877 is enacted, states will have the opportunity to use P-R funds for hunter and recreational shooter recruitment, retention, and reactivation programs; promotion and marketing of hunter education programs; and education to the non-hunting public about the role of hunters and recreational shooters in wildlife conservation.
“Today, I reintroduced my legislation to give states more flexibility in how they use their P-R funds and hopefully attract more Americans to the outdoors in the process,” said Rep. Austin Scott. “I am very pleased with the bipartisan and industry support for this legislation, and I look forward to advancing this legislation with my colleagues until our decades-old wildlife conservation funding receives the critical updates it deserves.”
CSF will continue to work with Rep. Scott and CSC leadership on advancing this legislation in the 116th Congress.
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Since 1989, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) has maintained a singleness of purpose that has guided the organization to become the most respected and trusted sportsmen’s organization in the political arena. CSF’s mission is to work with Congress, governors, and state legislatures to protect and advance hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping. The unique and collective force of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC), the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC) and the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC), working closely with CSF, and with the support of major hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping organizations, serves as an unprecedented network of pro-sportsmen elected officials that advance the interests of America’s hunters and anglers.
