Tennessee voters will have the opportunity to decide if the state’s Constitution should be amended in the upcoming election to recognize that citizens have the right to hunt and fish. I co-sponsored this constitutional initiative that received final approval by our General Assembly this year. If passed by the voters in November, it will make sure that our state’s great hunting and fishing heritage will be enjoyed by future generations of Tennesseans.
The language in the amendment specifically states that hunting and fishing are subject to reasonable regulations as prescribed by law. It simply provides that any future efforts to abolish hunting or fishing would face much more difficulty in Tennessee
Fourteen states have acted recently to preserve the personal right to hunt and fish through their state constitutions. Nine other states already had such a provision, while three other states will join Tennessee in seeing such an initiative on their ballots this year.
A resolution to change the Constitution must be approved by two consecutive general assemblies. An identical resolution guaranteeing citizens the right to hunt and fish was approved during the 2007-2008 legislative sessions by a simple majority. The Constitution, however, requires a two-thirds vote in the succeeding General Assembly before it can be placed on the ballot in the next year in which there is an election for governor. The approval of the identical resolution this session put the matter on the ballot this year, where it must get a majority vote based on the number of votes cast in the gubernatorial election.
The ballot measure will be voted on in the same manner as the "Victim's Rights Amendment" in 1998, the “State Lottery Scholarship Amendment” of 2002, or the last amendment to give property tax relief to the elderly. It is a tedious process, but once the Constitution has been amended, any future effort to ban hunting and fishing would likewise require a multi-year legislative process and a vote of the people to remove the amendment.
This amendment will give sportsmen a voice in court on any future action that would deny their right to hunt and fish, if approved by the voters. It will also provide significant protection from misguided lawsuits that does not exist today.
Looking at this amendment from both a conservation and economic point of view, sportsmen pay for all wildlife conservation efforts, not just game fish and animals. Therefore, this resolution will help ensure the preservation of funding that takes care of all Tennessee’s fish and wildlife.
Sportsmen also pump millions of dollars into Tennessee’s economy. The hunting and fishing industry generates more than $2.4 billion annually, including nearly $100 million in sales tax revenues and thousands of jobs.
I encourage voters to act now to ensure these rights are preserved indefinitely. We have such a great heritage of hunting and fishing in Tennessee. This amendment will make sure our young people have the same heritage to enjoy hunting and fishing as Tennesseans currently do.