Hall's Office Shooting Down Senate's Increased Hunting, Fishing Fees Upon Arrival

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/21/2025) The House Speaker's office signals they're shooting down the Senate's bills increasing certain hunting and fishing license costs upon arrival.  

"Not moving," said Gideon D'Assandro, a spokesperson for House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township), to MIRS the afternoon after the Senate voted out SB 276 and SB 277 by Sens. John Cherry (D-Flint) and Jon Bumstead (R-North Muskegon).  

Under the legislation, residents will pay $100, up from the present-day $75, for a combination hunt and fish license covering the required base license for hunters, two deer licenses and an all-species fishing license. For out-of-state hunters, they will go from paying $265 to $355 for a combination hunt and fish license. Base licenses themselves for hunters will go from $10 to $15 for Michiganders and from $150 to $200 for nonresidents.  

Sen. Michele Hoitenga (R-Manton), a hunter herself, was successfully able to attach an amendment to SB 276and SB 277 , essentially instructing Michigan's Natural Resources Commission to re-examine the state's standards for deer baiting. Some rural Michiganders have argued that today's baiting bans, designed to halt the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) among interacting deer Up North, are overbearing.   

"If we don't maintain at least what we have, you're going to get fewer and fewer people out enjoying the outdoors . . . this is basically just to maintain what we have," Bumstead said to the media today.  

Advocating for the legislation on the Senate floor, Cherry described the Department of Natural Resources overseeing depleting funds for nature conservation, which depend on license purchases. For example, he said the recent budget needed to include a $2.8 million one-time payment to help the DNR with its fish hatchery system.  

"If we hadn't done that, in January, fish would have been moved from the hatchery to the landfill because the department couldn't afford the cost of feed for the hatcheries," Cherry said. "The bills also solve issues surrounding deer management by providing a variety of tools to increase antlerless harvest, particularly in Southern Michigan, reducing the cost for farmers who are facing damages to their crops."  

In Wisconsin, non-residents pay $200 for deer hunting fees, $304 in Illinois for firearm hunting of an either-sex deer and $240 in Indiana for a single-season deer license that covers firearm hunting of bucks.  

Tuesday's bills received scrutiny from Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp.), who viewed them as granting the DNR's request for more money despite it being "plagued with mismanagement and scandal after scandal."  

"A department that has a history of hiding money," McBroom said. "Yet here they are: 'Give us more money. We need more money so we can send more people out to the woods to prosecute some guy who finally got a day off of work, sets himself up in a blind, and then the DNR shows up, blasts at him with a megaphone."  

He said one Yooper described a DNR officer sneaking onto his property by bicycle, not wearing a uniform and installing trail cams allegedly after the property owner mocked the DNR in local radio ads.  

McBroom also talked about the DNR ticketing households with bird feeders lower than nine feet tall, testing pigs to determine if they're "legal" and scheduling to kill domesticated coyotes and fawns because of missed application deadlines.  

"I can't believe we're doing this today, giving money to this department that's out there doing such a terrible job in this state," McBroom said. "They have no faith, no confidence from sports men and women around this state. People are up to their ears in frustration."  

Sens. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell), Joseph Bellino JR. (R-Monroe), John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs), Roger Hauck (R-Union Twp.), Mark Huizenga (R-Walker), Dan Lauwers (R-Brockway), Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater), McBroom, Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton), Rick Outman (R-Six Lakes), Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), Lana Theis (R-Brighton) and Roger Victory (R-Hudsonville) opposed SB 276 . Additionally, Hoitenga joined the opponents in voting against SB 277 .  

"Generally speaking, the number of hunters and fishers is going down, and that's part of what's creating a problem for the funding mechanism," Lindsey said. "I think only in government can somebody come to the conclusion that if we go ahead and tax that activity more, somehow that's going to help solve the problem."  

Cherry noted that the bills do offer cheaper costs for antlerless deer hunting. 

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