Conservation and gun advocates were dealt a hammer-blow Monday when the Federal Sportsmen Bill suffered a major setback. The bill sought to authorize the U.S. Department of Interior to raise the cost of the federal duck stamp from $15 to $25 at its discretion, according to a story this week on Politico.
The money would have been used for wetland conservation. There was no impact on the federal deficit. It was money that sportsmen were willing to shell out from their wallets. The added revenues would have generated between $132 million and $140 million in new spending over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The issue appears to have been a technical question of how to account for the money. Read more: Bad Blood in Congress.
