{"id":2237201,"date":"2024-05-04T12:48:05","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T16:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-game-commission-headed-toward-a-reckoning\/"},"modified":"2024-05-04T12:50:39","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T16:50:39","slug":"pennsylvania-game-commission-headed-toward-a-reckoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-game-commission-headed-toward-a-reckoning\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Game Commission Approaching a Moment of Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpennsylvania-game-commission-headed-toward-a-reckoning%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2237201&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Pennsylvania \u2064Game Commission faces \u200cskepticism from legislators amid a leadership transition. The focus is on improving \u200drelations with lawmakers and\u2063 the hunting \u200bcommunity. The new \u200dexecutive \u2062director aims to uphold the agency&#8217;s dedication and address past controversies. Policy revisions and\u2062 enhanced communication with stakeholders are top priorities. Efforts are underway to \u200baddress concerns and strengthen the commission&#8217;s operations.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2014 The Pennsylvania Game Commission looks ahead with a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/just-in-floyd-county-georgia-terminates-election-director-after-statewide-audit-discovers-uncounted-votes\/\" title=\"JUST IN: Floyd County, Georgia Terminates Election Director After Statewide Audit Discovers Uncounted Votes\">executive director<\/a>, but recent turmoil has legislators even more skeptical of the agency\u2019s competence.<\/p>\n<p>The commission has its sights set on tightening up policies and working more with the legislature, but critics want deeper changes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPriority No. 1 for me is to enhance and build upon the relationship that the Game Commission has with both legislators as well as those in the hunting community,\u201d Commission Executive Director Steve Smith said. \u201cThe primary way to do that \u2014 especially with legislators \u2014 is by making sure that they\u2019re aware and appreciate the work that our dedicated staff is already doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith took the reins of the commission earlier this week when <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_af8d9fd8-076b-11ef-bf15-237ee6e435a0.html\">former leader Bryan Burhans resigned<\/a><\/strong> after the Board of Commissioners discovered he had a business relationship with several employees, moonlighting as a wellness coach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have incredibly dedicated individuals doing great work on behalf of the commonwealth and its wildlife,\u201d Smith said. \u201cMy goal is to make sure that continues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The commission will ask the governor\u2019s office to review the its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pa-game-commission-head-resigns-after-business-relationships-revealed\/\" title=\"Head of PA Game Commission Resigns Due to Exposed 'Business Relationships\">supplemental employment policies<\/a>, he said, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/irs-warns-taxpayers-of-penalties-over-questionable-pandemic-era-tax-credits\/\" title=\"IRS alerts taxpayers about penalties for questionable pandemic-era tax credits.\">avoid future problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Other problems, however, remain. Legislators were miffed about the agency hiring a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_48fe2010-d595-11ee-a8b9-bb778ba91386.html\">$10,000-per-month lobbyist<\/a><\/strong> and Burhans\u2019 personal consulting business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI truly believe that there needs to be a reckoning,\u201d Rep. David Maloney, R-Boyertown, said. \u201cIf we\u2019re really gonna get something done, then we need to be center-focused and be productive to get to that end. I believe if some people are in the way, they need to be removed or reminded as to what their duty is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maloney is the Republican chair of the House Game and Fisheries Committee and grilled Burhans previously over his consulting business. In his weekly newsletter, Maloney argued the commission \u201chad been sidelined by a culture of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ben-jerrys-foundation-president-steered-funds-to-his-own-charity\/\" title=\"Ben &#038; Jerry\u2019s Foundation President Steered Funds to His Own Charity\">personal pet projects<\/a> and vendettas against anyone daring to speak out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to contentious decisions from the commission like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_53f69266-7a67-11ed-ac58-6f82a35cd072.html\">Sunday hunting<\/a><\/strong>, unnecessary out-of-state travel by officials, and a lack of transparency that concern him. He\u2019d like to see the opinion of sportsmen carry more weight in commission decisions and suggested they should have the ability to elect commissioners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe commissioners have been so complicit over the years to many of the things that have taken place,\u201d Maloney said. \u201cWe can\u2019t continue to have commissioners who disregard and disrespect sportsmen \u2014 and then in many ways play stupid to the questions that get asked of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also worried about what the future could hold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, the Game Commission is rich in cash,\u201d Maloney said. \u201cThat won\u2019t always be the case. You create a monster that kind of runs out of control: Does it crash and we have to start over? I don\u2019t want that to happen, we need to reform this now and get back to the business of what they were intended to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith, who has been with the commission since 2008, may have to lead the agency during an era of greater legislative scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t over \u2014 this is only gonna probably get more ugly,\u201d Maloney said. \u201cThere\u2019s more and more things coming to me almost weekly, if not daily.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a new executive director, the Pennsylvania Game Commission faces scrutiny. Recent upheavals leave legislators questioning the agency\u2019s effectiveness. The focus is on policy enhancements and better collaboration with lawmakers. However, critics demand profound transformations. &#8220;My top priority is to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2237202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23320565937296-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2237201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23320565937296-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2237201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2237202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2237201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2237201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2237201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}