Senate Committee Moves on Proposed Stamp Changes

28 JULY 2012

Last week, the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works approved two steps impacting the status of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, popularly known as the “Duck Stamp.”

Both decisions will move the Stamp closer to some changes, but the committee actions are also part of the process, a process that has further hurdles to overcome.

The first step was the committee’s approval for the Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2012 (S. 2071). A pilot program involving federal e-stamp sales in a number of states has worked well so that the effort was considered worthy of expansion. The bill technically would give the U.S. Department of the Interior permission to grant any state authority to issue e-stamps. The bill also sets forth conditions for doing so, and Interior could revoke a state's privilege if it determined the state was violating the rules.

You can read the e-stamp legislation at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.2071.IS:

So far, only three senators have sponsored the legislation, but similar legislation (H.R. 3117) passed the House in January

The second move involved changing the price of the “Duck Stamp.” Here, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the Migratory Bird Habitat Investment and Enhancement Act (S. 2156), which would allow the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, to set prices for the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. This cycle would occur every five years. (Implied price changes have been $25 for five years beginning in 2013 and to $30 in the next five years.)

The current $15 price for the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp has not changed since 1991. The stamps cost $1 originally in 1934 and the price has increased seven times over the decades.

While the bill in the Senate was approved by the Senate committee, odds are more daunting in the U.S. House of Representatives.

You can read the e-stamp legislation at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.2156.IS: