Where are the protests???

My brother attended a multi town meeting with his state representative the other night regarding the doubling of fees across the board in CT (fishing, hunting, commercial, park entry fees, boat launches, you name it…). Has anyone else gone to any similar meetings about this issue? My question is… why is everyone lying low and simply accepting this outrage? The state's plan is to raise 4.5 million in extra revenue to address the recent shortfalls in the state budget by arbitrarily doubling (and in certain cases tripling) our licensing fees. Nowadays, we all have to live within our means and be careful with our income. Why is the state not held accountable to staying within its means? Why are they allowed to run this state into the ground with their "carte blache" mentality? An organized protest at the capitol building should be planned. Letters should be sent to Representatives and Legislators stating that their plan will not work due to a boycott of hunting and fishing in CT. I personally am not renewing my fresh or saltwater license in CT. I will fish RI and MA party boats and I will surfcast and flyfish ME and NH. I will buy a MA freshwater license and I will hunt in NY, or NH and be able to hunt on Sunday as well. Let them know that their plan will actually send money out of state in the form of lost revenue on gas, food, lodging, bait & tackle, ammo, etc. CT Sportsmen, We need to organize and send a message to our "far out of whack" government and tell them we will not stand by idly while they try to fix the budget by placing such a burden on our shoulders.





I am going to work on a petition that I hope all concerned CT sportsmen on this site should sign and send electronically to their proper representatives and legislators, and ask them why they voted for this outrageous money grab! Where is the anger folks! Don't let them roll over us… enough is enough!

Originally Posted by piscator

Why is the state not held accountable to staying within its means? Why are they allowed to run this state into the ground with their "cart blache" mentality?

I agree, however, EVERY state in the nation is dealing with similar and in many case much more extreme shortfalls from a budgetary perspective. When budgets are based on various revenue streams and investments, guided by historical return averages, states are thrown into chaos when all that melts down. This is what happened in late 2008, well into 2009, and is still there. Most states exited a vast majority of their equity holdings, in order to hedge continued risk and losses. That decision has hurt every state that went that way, considering the bull market direction over the past 10 months. Combine this with massively lowered sales tax revenues, very high unemployment, and other associated maladies, and you have the accountant's version of a Perfect Storm.

As far as the state is concerned, it is resultant from a leadership of idiots, from the governor to our representatives and senators, both local and federally.

The cost increases we are seeing for sportsman's licensing is ridiculous, however, it pales in comparison to many of the other increases being levied against businesses and corporations. Just wait until DMV and our local utilities begin their barrage of increases (coming soon, guaranteed). We, as residents and tax payers are going to get squeezed for years to come, resultant from the fiscal meltdown. The "Great Recession" is going to be felt by all of us for many years to come, in this vein, and many others.

Brad - I like the Perfect Storm analogy. We're all in one helluva mess and the elected see a big opportunity to close the gap by raising fees for things that many of us would still purchase / require even with the increase. Translation - easy money. Even if half of us were pissed off to the point of not buying licenses, they'd at least break even on revenue from the rest (under the premise the doubled fees stay in place).

Fees on the charter captains are going up too - CT and NY so far.

If there is a petition, I'll sign it and get it around to others. Even if we're stuck with the fee increases, we need to at least share our displeasure. One thing I have noticed locally is a newfound willingness on the part of the elected (Town Council, Board of Ed) to solicit other ideas as to how to lower costs, avoid tax increases, etc. Much better than the oft-used approach of simply raising our taxes...

Originally Posted by achiganman

Fees on the charter captains are going up too - CT and NY so far.

charter Boat fee $315 this year

I will sign!!!!

Governor Rell can be reached by phone at 860-566-4840 or toll-free at 800-406-1527 or email Governor.Rell@ct.gov.

Here's a photo that shows where your tax dollars are going. Playing solitaire and watching baseball while on the clock. Your tax dollars are supporting this behavior, this sense of entitlement, this arrogance, Heads used to roll when the people's governments didn't work for them. You can lop heads off at the polls. Vote these idiots OUT!!!!

If you work hard for your money (unlike CT Representatives) DEMAND EXCELLENCE AND FAIRNESS FROM THE PEOPLE WHO "WORK" FOR YOU!

Go to this website:

Connecticut General Assembly - Street Number, Street Name and Town*

enter your street address and town, find your representatives and fire off an email letting them that you don't approve of the doubling of sportsmen's and commercial fees. Let them know their plan will result in a loss of revenue opposed to a gain. Let them know that poaching will ensue, resulting in the lawless depletion of CT's environmental resources (fish & game). Let them know that they may find themselves unemployed like many in our state. DON'T LET THEM ROLL OVER US AGAIN!!

FYI: The two tools playing solitaire are Jack Hennessy (D) representing Bridgeport, and Barbara Lambert (D) representing Milford. The unknown tool behind Hennessy is getting a baseball update of NY Yankee Andy Pettitte's attempt at a pefect game, not to mention several other laptops open with other reps checking out who-knows what. OUTRAGEOUS!!!

You can word it the way you want or copy paste it. The important thing is that these clowns start to hear the grumbling.

Go to: Connecticut General Assembly - Street Number, Street Name and Town* and enter your street address and town, then find the contact information for the reps in your district.

your name
your address
your town, state zip code

the date here

Mr. /Mrs. Representative,

I would like to express my vehement opposition to the state's recent doubling of sportsman's fees and commercial fishing fees. As a result, I will not renew my Connecticut hunting, freshwater fishing and saltwater fishing licenses and I will not purchase any sports equipment within this state's borders. Arbitrarily raising fees 100% across the board for sportsmen will most likely decrease revenue, not create it.

I am aware that the state faces a serious budget crisis, but targeting one small sector of constituents for a blatant "money grab" is unfair and not the answer to the dilemma we are in. Most hunters and fishermen I know are completely fed up and are going to take their sportsmen's dollars to other states. States where you can hunt on Sunday and where their environmental departments don't create short seasons and bag limits on certain species of marine fish, based on faulty data and nonscientific means of "management". Surrounding states will welcome CT sportsmen's dollars when they purchase gas, food, lodging, licenses, tackle, equipment and party boat fares.

The economic implications of this state's actions will be far-reaching and most likely result in the closing of "Mom & Pop" sporting goods businesses and charter operations, most of which have already been hit hard by this state's environmental policies. Poaching by non-compliant "sportsmen" will become rampant, resulting in the depletion of the state's environmental resources (fish and game). Already there are not enough environmental conservation officers to enforce the state's hunting and fishing regulations. The doubling of fees will encourage widespread non-compliance.

In these tough economic times, everyone has had to learn to live within their means. That same accountability should be happening within our state's government. However, we continue to see the state run into the ground by Connecticut government's "carte blanche" mode of operation. While most are struggling, we watch as you and your cohorts vote for your own pay increases and enjoy all the perks that your "lofty" positions allow. Your constituents are completely disgusted with the waste, the entitlement and the arrogance. Enough is enough… it's time to come down to Earth, stop playing solitaire on your laptops, and get to work. Taking the easy way out and arbitrarily doubling hunting and fishing fees across the board is a desperate attempt at balancing the books and is unfairly placed squarely on the shoulders of Connecticut's hard working outdoors men and women.

Sincerely,
your name

FYI: The two tools playing solitaire are Jack Hennessy (D) representing Bridgeport, and Barbara Lambert (D) representing Milford. The unknown tool behind Hennessy is getting a baseball update of NY Yankee Andy Pettitte's attempt at a pefect game, not to mention several other laptops open with other reps checking out who-knows what. OUTRAGEOUS!!!
Attached Thumbnails

Tax $$$ hard @ work.

Andy,

Excellent series of posts made by you! It is obvious you are mad as hell and you should be. I believe there is not a single sportsman living in CT that is not fuming with what has been happening in our state. Perhaps you are really underestimating how angry most of us are really feeling as I sent out my protest letter more than a week ago. My representatives have not been representing me. Even worse, they have given me sufficient cause to believe that they do not even give a damn about their constituents. Christ Dodd announced a week ago he is not going to run again! He gave a nice speech about why he is leaving and never mentioned he was leaving because he had zero chance of being reelected; CT finally knows him for what he is. Sending Dodd a letter of protest would be a waste of time and/or a postage stamp. Then we have the great whiner Joe Lieberman, supposedly an independent. Please note how he recently voted on health care reform and who was allowed into the closed door sessions. He put on a great performance of how hard it was for him to decide how to cast his vote, whining all the way, but finally he voted along party lines and not in my best interests. What really irks me is Joe must think that I am, along with the rest of CT, too stupid to follow his voting record. When he asked for inputs from his constituents prior to the voting, all I got was the message "The mailbox is full, please call back again". It is hard for me to say this, but they really do not care about us! If they did, they would not have killed us with the ridiculous fees first place. I agree with you in that we have to protest because if we do not, then next year they will double everything again. I also agree that we must vote the lot of them out of office. I have culled my licenses down to the bare minimum as you are right again in that a boycott just might get them thinking of how insane/greedy they have become. You are not alone, I am mad as hell too.

Yes, sending a letter to Dodd will be a lesson in futility as he's jumping ship as it's burning. Actually I think he ripped the life jacket off of Rell, so she's just going to have to jump and pinch her nose closed and hope for the best. A letter to her is just wasted effort also. As for jumping Joe, the Chameleon of Washington, he doesn't know what he believes in any more, so that may be folly as well. I believe starting with finding out the names and emails of your representatives and Senators in your district and sending them an opposition letter is as good a start as any. Find out contact emails for the next batch of fools arrogant enough to think they can govern this state and ask them what their stance is on this subject. The next election is going to be of grave importance. Start doing your homework now.

Brad, my hat is off to you. I don't know what type of search engine you've updated to, but I googled -Protest, doubling, hunting, fishing fees and this thread on NBS was the very first hit on the list. Well done, Possum!!!

Hey Bro ,

No matter what, we as sportsmen and women should stick together on this one. When there is such redundancy in this government, where consolidating or eliminating bureau's would work much better but they choose not to because government seems to be immune to the realities of the real world, and god forbid they had to really look inward at themselves and make the really hard choices !
I for one will not pay out of state prices in my home state and do what a lot of other sports people are doing, going out of state!

Don