Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB971                                                                             LB971
                                                                             2024
                               LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                          ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
                                     SECOND SESSION
                       LEGISLATIVE BILL 971
        Introduced by Lippincott, 34; Aguilar, 35; Albrecht,      17; Ballard, 21;
                      Blood, 3; Brewer, 43; DeKay, 40; Dorn,      30; Halloran, 33;
                      Hardin, 48; Holdcroft, 36; Hughes, 24;      Jacobson, 42; Kauth,
                      31; Lowe, 37; McDonnell, 5; Meyer, 41;      Murman, 38; Slama,
                      1; Wayne, 13.
        Read first time January 04, 2024
        Committee: Natural Resources
   A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Game Law; to amend sections 37-420 and
       37-421, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska; to provide for a free
       hunting permit for veterans on   Veterans Day;   to harmonize
       provisions; and to repeal the original sections.
   Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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LB971                                                                                    LB971
                                                                                    2024
        Section 1. Section 37-420, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
    amended to read:
        37-420 (1) Any veteran who is a legal resident of the State of
    Nebraska shall, upon application and without payment of any fee, be
    issued a combination fishing, fur-harvesting, and hunting permit, habitat
    stamp, aquatic habitat stamp, and Nebraska migratory waterfowl stamp if
    the veteran:
       (a) Was discharged or separated with a characterization of honorable
   or general (under honorable conditions); and
        (b)(i) Is rated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
    as fifty percent or more disabled as a result of service in the armed
    forces of the United States; or
       (ii) Is receiving a pension from the department as a result of total
    and permanent disability, which disability was not incurred in the line
    of duty in the military service.
        (2) If disabled persons are unable by reason of physical infirmities
    to hunt and fish in the normal manner, the commission may issue special
    permits without cost to those persons to hunt and fish from a vehicle,
    but such permits shall not authorize any person to shoot from any public
    highway.
        (3) All permits issued without the payment of any fees pursuant to
    this section shall be perpetual and become void only upon termination of
    eligibility as provided in this section.
        (4) The commission may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations
    necessary to carry out this section.
        (5) Permits issued under subdivision (3) of this section as it
    existed prior to   January   1,   2006,   shall not expire as   provided in
    subsection (1) of section 37-421.
        Sec. 2. Section 37-421, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
    amended to read:
        37-421     (1)(a) (1) The commission may issue an annual combination
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LB971                                                                                       LB971
                                                                                       2024
    fishing,      fur-harvesting,    and hunting permit,   habitat stamp,   aquatic
    habitat stamp, and Nebraska migratory waterfowl stamp upon application
    and payment of a fee of five dollars to (i) (a) any Nebraska resident who
    is a veteran, who is sixty-four years of age or older, and who was
    discharged or separated with a characterization of honorable or general
    (under honorable conditions) or (ii) (b) any Nebraska resident who is
    sixty-nine years of age or older.
          (b) (2) A permit issued as provided in this subsection section shall
    expire as    provided in   subdivision     (3)(a)    of section   37-405.   Permits
    issued under this section as it existed before January 1, 2006, shall not
    expire as provided in section 37-405.
          (2) The commission shall issue a hunting permit upon application and
    without payment of any fee to any veteran who is a Nebraska resident who
    was discharged or    separated with    a characterization of   honorable or
    general (under honorable conditions) for use on Veterans Day. A permit
    issued under this subsection shall only be valid on November 11 in the
    year in which such permit is issued.
          (3) If disabled persons are unable by reason of physical infirmities
    to hunt and fish in the normal manner, the commission may issue special
    permits without cost to those persons to hunt and fish from a vehicle,
    but such permits shall not authorize any person to shoot from any public
    highway.
          (4) The commission may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations
    necessary to carry out this section.
          Sec.    3.    Original sections      37-420    and   37-421,   Reissue Revised
    Statutes of Nebraska, are repealed.
                                                 -3-
Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 37-420, 37-421