• Last week we passed the halfway point of the 2013 Legislative Session. Between now and March 8, we will be seeing more high-profile and controversial bills. Although some of these bills have already been dealt with, undoubtedly more remain in-play than have been passed or killed to-date. That is the nature of most sessions, in that the "big" issues tend to linger longer.
• One such bill is HB 1135. I have heard first-hand from a few people and second-hand from many more concerning what they have heard about the bill. For those who do not know what the bill is about, it seeks to change the law as it relates to prop

erty rights when private property (not adjacent to public bodies of water) becomes flooded. This bill hearkens back to my first four years in office when many similar property-rights bills were introduced. Because there are apparently a number of rumors floating about the bill, I am going to devote this week's article to a discussion on the matter.
• Some of you have heard that I am "really pushing" this bill. The first time I was asked what "I" was doing, I didn't even know which bill was being referenced. I finally figured out that the bill in question was 1135, which I signed onto as a co-sponsor after a brief discussion with a friend. My friend said he was bringing a bill to prompt a discussion about flooded property that is entirely private. He said it had NOTHING to do with land that becomes flooded when a public body of water exceeds its "high-water" mark and floods land surrounding it. (Such bodies of water are "meandered".) He reminded me of a few pieces of legislation that were brought a decade ago when I was first in the Senate. Because the issue of private property rights is something I have always taken an interest in, I said I welcomed the discussion and I signed onto the bill. That was the extent of my "really pushing" the bill.
• However, now that the bill has passed the House Ag & Natural Resources Committee, I have spent a great deal of time researching and working to become fully-educated about the bill. I listened to the entirety of the committee testimony and debate about the bill. In the end, it comes down to a debate between private-property interests as opposed to public hunting/fishing opportunities. These are both issues that are extremely important to me. They are both matters that I have been deeply involved with. I have supported a number of bills that have provided more access to public hunting/fishing for all. I am a hunter. I used to be a fisherman, and I look for

(Continued on page 10)