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Disabled people got little notice that free hunting and fishing licenses were invalid.
By DIANE RADO
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 4, 2000
TALLAHASSEE -- With the start of scallop season, Kenneth Snead was excited about going fishing this past weekend until he saw a short notice in his newspaper:
All free hunting and fishing licenses issued to disabled Florida residents before July 1, 1997, would become invalid July 1.
It shocked Snead, a Vietnam War veteran injured by a land mine in 1968. Suddenly, the free disability license he got in 1989 was invalid and he had to cancel his fishing trip.
"I'm sure thousands of people had no idea their licenses were invalid," said Snead, who lives in Gadsden County, just west of the state capital.
Monday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was apologizing for the short notice and assuring disabled residents that for the time being, they won't get fined for fishing with an invalid license.
"I'm sure people feel kind of blindsided by this," said Henry Cabbage, spokesman for the commission. "We issued a news release just before July 1. It probably should have been done sooner."
Cabbage wasn't sure how many people are affected by a new law that, among other things, sets new requirements for disabled residents to get free hunting and fishing licenses. But an analysis by legislative staff said the commission has indicated that 92,049 free licenses have been issued to disabled residents since 1979. Up to 5,000 licenses issued on or after July 1, 1997 still are valid, Cabbage said.
Lawmakers approved the legislation May 5, and Gov. Jeb Bush signed it into law on June 26. Two days later, the commission issued a news release detailing the change.
Snead said he would have appreciated better communication, such as a notice in the mail. He also doesn't understand why the law didn't give a grace period before licenses became invalid.
"They gave us no leeway," said Snead, who spent a frustrating day Monday trying to get a new license. He said he was told it could take two or three weeks to get his new license. In the meantime, can he go fishing?
The answer is yes, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"The law did not specify a grace period, but any time we implement a new system we allow sportsmen to get accustomed to the new law," Cabbage said.
He defined the length of the grace period has a "reasonable length of time," rather than a set number of days or weeks.
"We know it takes a while for the word to get out. We're going to be reasonable," Cabbage said.
The change in the law resulted from a study by the state Senate's Natural Resources Committee on fishing and hunting license fees and exemptions. Legislative staff called the exemption for disabled people "particularly troublesome," because the criteria used to determine disability was not uniform. In the past, certification from a medical doctor was accepted to qualify for a free license. That no longer will be the case.
Applicants now will have to provide certification of total and permanent disability by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or by an branch of the U.S. armed forces. Licenses issued this way will expire every five years.
Applicants also can be certified disabled by the Social Security Administration, by a notice of award for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Supplemental Security Disability Income (SSDI). Licenses issued this way will expire every two years. Applications are available at local county tax collector's offices.
The law also created a combination fishing license for freshwater and saltwater fish that costs $24 for a one-year license; and a combination hunting and freshwater/saltwater fishing at $34 for one year.