Legislator proposes more sharing between Game, Fish and Boat commissions
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A state lawmaker wants to implement several recommendations from a recent independent study to consolidate several functions of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the state Game Commission.
The recommendations were part of an 81-page study released in September by the Wildlife Management Institute as the Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission look for ways to improve their long-term finances.
Rep. Anita Kulik, D-Coraopolis, is drafting legislation that would ask the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to evaluate the consolidation and sharing of the overlapping administrative and operational functions and physical assets, the unification of law enforcement bureaus of the PFBC and the PGC, and the statutory changes necessary to effectuate such consolidation, sharing of services, and unification, while preserving independent and specialized board governance.
"The study found that under the current structures there are many opportunities for both commissions to save money through operational consolidations," Kulik wrote in her co-sponsorship memorandum. "As a result, these efficiencies can help secure the financial footing of both agencies for years to come."
The study notes that Pennsylvania is the only state that splits fish and wildlife across two independent commissions. Those two commissions have a combined workforce of about 1,298 people. Many administrative functions exist in both commissions and are candidates for shared services, the study states, while noting the two agencies contain roughly 221 more positions when benchmarked against agencies of a similar size. After agency analysis and evaluation, the study states it is possible that the combined workforce could potentially be reduced by about 17% through unified law enforcement and reductions in overlapping executive, legal, and engineering functions,
generating about $34 million a year in savings.
The Game Commission operates 74 field offices against a five-state average of 29 offices. The study suggests 20 total field offices in the most consequential areas. It also recommends unifying Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission law enforcement into a single structure. Comparable state wildlife agencies contain about 222 sworn officers.
The study also recommends consolidating overlapping bureaus and administrative functions and study roles to flatten the structure, reduce and co-locate field officers to match comparable state wildlife agencies that have less than half the number of field offices Pennsylvania has; set minimum fund balances, study license price changes and evaluate funding models that include more public contributions; and obtain formal counsel opinions on fund-use restrictions and ask the General Assembly to authorize a joint shared-services framework with proportional cost sharing.
"It is extremely important to note that this study makes no reference to a merger of the commissions, but rather certain services which could be shared," Kulik wrote. "Furthermore, I want to make it clear that I remain opposed to any measure that would seek to merge the commissions, or reduce or remove the independent management provided for under the PFBC's and PGC's boards of commissioners. This study would provide additional information which is needed to answer questions from the sportsmen and women of the Commonwealth pertaining to what a consolidation of certain services between the commissions would look like."
The study states that if nothing changes both commissions have costs increasing faster than expenses and will operate at a deficit within the next 10 years. On the current path, the Game Commission would lose roughly 95% of its Game Fund balance by 2034 while the Fish and Boat Commission would exhaust its combined reserves by about 2034.
"It is of the utmost importance to note that the recommendations within this study do not reflect any imminent or immediate action from the Game Commission," said Steve Smith, state game commissioner. "This robust report warrants meticulous review and in-depth communication with our constituents, our board of commissioners, legislators, stakeholders and the Fish and Boat Commission. We appreciate the extensive amount of effort that WMI put into this study to locate potential areas of improvement that could ultimately benefit the Game Commission, the Fish and Boat Commission and Pennsylvania's hunters, anglers and wildlife resources."