Senator Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) and Representative David Dill (DFLCrane Lake) announced the “Mom’s Amendment,” a proposal to move up the opening weekend of the 2012 fishing season by one week.
The lawmakers released the following joint statement:
“In what is shaping up to be a donothing legislative session, today we are offering a proposal that we hope will give citizens of Minnesota something to feel good about. We are proposing to move up opening weekend of the fishing season— currently scheduled on May 12—one week early. The fishing opener is a great Minnesota tradition and a major tourism event, and our state’s anglers and tourism businesses deserve bi-partisan support from the legislature to get this done.
Since the current opener falls on Mother’s Day again this year, we’re calling it the ‘Mom’s Amendment.’
“We have just come off an incredibly difficult winter for Minnesota’s resort and tourism industry, which saw almost no snow in most areas of the state and terrible ice conditions with record early iceouts. Businesses that are dependent on winter tourism had a rough year, and an extra week of the fishing season would give them a big boost.”
Bakk added, “On a personal note, I’m not the only Minnesotan who is torn between the fishing opener and spending
May 12th with my mom. Of course, moms should be the priority, but this way Minnesotans can have both.”
Said Dill, “I used to have to do both on the same day—now I can focus on just Mom on her day.”
“I met with representatives from the DNR this morning to explain the proposal and asked for their support in rescheduling the fishing opener,” said Sen. Bakk. “With the fish spawn projected to be as much as a month early this year, there is no resource reason to not move the fishing season up by a week. Let’s give Minnesotans something out of this session that they can feel good about.”
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