Legislation in the lame-duck session would increase the fees hunters and anglers must pay for state-required licenses, which would be set on a path for automatic increases. House Bill 6229, introduced by Rep. Amos O’Neal, D-Saginaw, would affect a wide range of activities and require some teenage anglers to get a license for the first time.

The bill would increase the fee for a resident combination hunting and fishing license from $75 to $113. The fee for an antlerless deer license would increase from $20 to $30, and anyone seeking one of these or other game licenses would also face increased application fees.

Nonresidents also would have to pay more. For example, a seven-day limited small game license, currently $80, would cost $120.

Some anglers would face a new licensing requirement. While 16-year-olds do not need a fishing license now, they would have to get one under HB 6229, which lowers the age requirement for a license from 17 to 16.

The most significant change in the bill, however, might be that it would put fee increases on automatic pilot, removing the need for legislators to take a public vote. Instead, the state treasurer would increase fees by an amount equal to the Consumer Price Index, a common measure of inflation.

Hunters provide over $95 million for wildlife conservation through license purchases and fees on related equipment, according to the Michigan Wildlife Council, which adds that hunting supports 171,000 jobs.

The number of hunters in Michigan has seen a 32% decline since 1995, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. An increase in fees could discourage some people from hunting, which could lead to the state having too many wildlife, leading to more frequent deer-vehicle crashes and other ill effects.

The bill would increase the following license fees for state residents:

• All-species fishing (from $25 to $38)
• Wild turkey (from $15 to $23)
• Bear (from $25 to $38)
• Waterfowl (from $12 to $18)
• Pheasant (from $25 to $38)
• Elk (from $100 to $150).

The bill would also increase the amount the state must spend from various licenses on habitats and game health. Financial support for habitat and other work related to wild turkeys, for example, would increase from $9.50 to $14.00.

The fee increase aims to fund conservation efforts, according to O’Neal.

“In working with the Department, we do anticipate some level resistance to any level of a license fee increase,” O’Neal told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email. “However, that does not change the need to properly fund conservation efforts in the State of Michigan. License fees have not been raised in over a decade, while the cost of providing services has increased drastically due to inflation.”

The state should use existing revenue better, said a Republican lawmaker.

“Instead of raising costs even more, we should be making it easier for people to enjoy the great outdoors,” Rep. Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River, told CapCon in an email.

“If the DNR wants to fund improvements, they should focus on delivering better services and cutting inefficiencies, not sneaking revenue grabs past voters."

Michigan taxpayers are slated to give $259 million to a mystery company to build a semiconductor plant near Mundy Township in Genessee County.

The Charter Township of Mundy entered a nondisclosure agreement with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation on Sept. 9, 2022, which Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a records request.

State officials approved a total of $259 million in Strategic Site Readiness Program funds, which will go to local agencies involved in preparing a large parcel of land for development. The project could be eligible for more grants.

The township entered that agreement at least a year before voters discovered giveaway of state dollars. On Nov. 5, 2024, voters ousted township supervisor Tonya Ketzler and elected Jennifer Stainton, who opposed the giveaway.

“My position has been on the opposition side due to the lack of transparency on behalf of Mundy Township board members,” Stainton told CapCon in an email. “Signing a NDA is unacceptable to hide things from your elective public you represent. Until we see transparency from the township and from the Genesee Economic Alliance, my fight is to protect and serve my Community of Residents who put me in office.”

If the project advances, the taxpayer funds would appear to benefit Western Digital Technologies, a San Jose, California, company. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Flint and Genesee Economic Alliance supports the project, said executive director Tyler Rossmaessler.

“A new advanced manufacturing project will create thousands of new jobs and pump millions of dollars into Michigan’s economy, helping small business, attracting investment and raising property values. It would also make us less reliant on – and more competitive with – foreign countries like China," Rossmaessler wrote.

“Bringing an advanced manufacturer to Genesee County will also provide millions of dollars of new tax revenue, helping to fund our roads, schools and public safety services, including police and fire. It will help bring back to the U.S. jobs and our supply chain, which have been outsourced, enhancing our national security and improving our ability to compete with our economic adversaries, including China.”

The state economic incentives aim to accelerate Michigan’s inventory of investment-ready sites and win economic development projects that will bring long-term economic opportunity and security statewide, said Otie McKinley, media and communications manager at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation

“Supporting the site prep of this parcel will lead to business investment, population growth, improved transportation infrastructure and generational job creation,” McKinley wrote in an email to CapCon. “It’s important to note the funds you reference did not go to a company, as no company has been confirmed for the site.”

When CapCon asked for the nondisclosure agreement and all other documents detailing the Mundy megasite, the economic development agency billed CapCon $4,338 for 6,008 documents. The documents would show how the agency plans to pay taxpayer money to a secret company. The agency rejected a waiver request.

A grant to a hidden company asking for money, given by lawmakers who’ve silenced themselves through a nondisclosure agreement, is bad public policy, said James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

"An unnamed company has asked for an unspecified amount of money. Officials ostensibly have made a threat about what it would do without taxpayer cash, argued in private with our lawmakers who have signed nondisclosure agreements to keep this secret,” Hohman told CapCon in an email. “This is not how public policy is supposed to work."