Raid on boating fund defeated - BoatU.S. Reports

In an attempt to make up budget deficits plaguing state economies nationwide, many states have been dipping into funds dedicated for specific services, especially boating. Luckily, California boaters were saved from this fate when the Recreational Boaters of California (RBOC), an advocacy group supported by BoatU.S., successfully lobbied for the dismissal of a California Assembly proposal that would have merged the Department of Boating and Waterways with the Department of Parks, which is suffering from budget shortfalls.

In early April, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee was bombarded with letters, phone calls, e-mails and faxes from RBOC and its members and the proposal was dropped. This is another victory for California boaters who have had to fight to keep their boating funds at least two other times in the past 10 years.

The Department of Boating and Waterways receives its budget largely from sales and gas taxes paid by boaters. The money is divided among boater education, law enforcement and grants and loans for facility construction and repair.