Are we on the doorstep of Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania? Not quite [column]

The Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives both have passed bills that would open the door for general Sunday hunting, ending a legislative ban here that has stood since the early 19th century.

So we’re on the verge of being allowed to hunt on Sundays in Pennsylvania, right?

Maybe.

While each legislative branch has essentially given Sunday hunting the green light, they did so through different pieces of legislation.

In order for Sunday hunting to be presented to the governor for final approval, the two sides have to agree on one piece of legislation.

And in order for the progress that’s been made on the issue – this is the farthest I’ve seen approval for Sunday hunting get in the state Legislature in my 30 years at LNP – to keep rolling, a compromise will have to be reached before the end of this year, when a new legislative calendar starts.

And this is a monumental Presidential election year, which could put Sunday hunting and other state legislative initiatives on the back burner in the coming months.

But let’s review where we are right now.

READ: Is full Sunday hunting about to become a reality in Pennsylvania?

The state House of Representatives on June 27 approved House Bill 2106 by a vote of 129-73.

The bill rescinds the legislative ban on Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania.

Yes, there’s actually a state law that prohibits general Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania. The state Game Commission has no control over it.

The law prohibits hunting on Sundays except for coyotes, foxes and crows.

In 2019, state lawmakers passed legislation allowing for hunting on three Sundays during deer and bear seasons.

House Bill 2106 repeals the state ban on Sunday hunting and allows for “temporary Sunday hunting.”

The temporary aspect is due to the fact that the law would expire in 2029. That would give legislators the opportunity to revisit Sunday hunting in 2029 to see if it should be allowed to continue or if it should end.

The bill allows for Sunday hunting anywhere in the state except in state parks, where Sunday hunting would be limited to the three Sundays approved in 2019.

And to hunt private lands, a hunter would need written permission from the landowner to hunt on Sundays.

House Bill 2106 passed largely due to Democrats. All but two Democrats voted in favor of the bill, whereas only 30 of the 101 Republican representatives joined them.

Among Lancaster County representatives, all seven Republicans voted against the bill, while the two Democrats voted in favor.

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In many parts of the state, hunters overwhelmingly are chomping at the bit to make Sunday like every other day of the week.

That has not been the case across Lancaster County.

State Rep. Bryan Cutler of Peach Bottom has long opposed Sunday hunting as a lawmaker, while acknowledging he has no problem hunting on Sundays himself.

He said his legislative position is due to his constituency.

“When this issue first came up, the vast majority of constituents I spoke to in my district were opposed to expanding Sunday hunting,” he said.

“I voted against the expansion then and, in discussions about current expansion proposals, it is clear the mood of the residents of southern Lancaster County has not changed.”

With approval by the House, Bill 2106 has moved to the Senate Game & Fisheries Committee.

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 67 on July 3 was approved by a vote of 33-17 in the Senate.

The bill simply repeals the state legislation prohibiting Sunday hunting and says it’s up to the Game Commission to determine how and when Sunday hunting should be allowed.

It also requires written permission to hunt on private property on Sundays.

READ: Saturday or Monday? Pa. hunters debate which firearms deer season opening date is better

Additionally, the bill addresses a few non-Sunday-hunting issues, including reporting and disposing of deer shot for crop damage, increasing trespassing penalties and requiring the Game Commission to create a system to connect hunters with farmers looking for relief from crop damage caused by wildlife.

Among the Lancaster County delegation, senators Ryan Aument and Chris Gebhard voted in favor of Senate Bill 67, while Scott Martin voted against it.

With approval by the Senate, the bill has been sent to the House Game & Fisheries Committee for consideration.

And so, with each branch of legislation considering different versions of bills that have the same roots, either one branch has to accept the other’s bill to move something to the governor’s desk, or a compromise has to be drafted and then circulated among both branches for approval.

Again, one or the other would have to happen before the end of the year, when the current legislative session ends, or both bills will be scrapped and the whole process has to start over.

Dawn Fidler, the legislative director for Sen. Dan Laughlin of Erie, who co-authored Senate Bill 67, said there is plenty of time to get something to Gov. Josh Shapiro on Sunday hunting before the end of the year.

She said her office would be reaching out to the House committee to discuss the future of Senate Bill 67 or some compromise legislation.

“The hope is the House will bring it up for a vote in committee and then move it out to the floor for a vote,” she said.

READ: Pennsylvania hunters continue to rack up high number of deer

Over in the House, Elizabeth Rementer, press secretary for Majority Leader Rep. Matt Bradford of Lansdale, said she expects Sunday hunting to be a hot topic for lawmakers before the end of 2024.

“While our priority right now is negotiating and passing the state budget, we will continue to work with the Senate on both bipartisan bills to expand hunting opportunities on Sundays,” she said.

There definitely isn’t time to affect the 2024-25 hunting season, which began July 1. The earliest we might see general Sunday hunting is the 2025-26 season, assuming the House and Senate can come to a compromise supported by a majority of both branches, which is then signed into law by Gov. Shapiro.

It’s a bit premature to say there’s a clear path to open Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania at this time. But there’s no question this is more positive movement toward making Sunday like every day of the week on the hunting calendar than we’ve ever seen here.

Across the country, Sunday hunting bans have been falling over the past decade or so.

According to the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, Maine and Massachusetts are the only states that still ban all Sunday hunting.

Additionally, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia have varying limits on Sunday hunting.

Fidler said Senator Laughlin wants to see Sunday hunting expanded in Pennsylvania, “because there are a lot of people who work six or seven days a week these days.

“Allowing Sunday hunting would give them another opportunity to get out. Same for the younger generation who have sports and school and other things going on that take up a lot of their time. Sunday is another opportunity for them to experience hunting.”