Lowering CHL fees

[RHenriksen]

I know one worthwhile legislative goal that's been bandied about is reducing the onerous $140 application fee (one of the highest in the country). A discussion elsewhere here about donating funds to help teachers get their CHLs made me think:

we discount the state CHL fee for military and the indigent. If we don't get a universal fee reduction accomplished in 2013, why not at least try for a reduced CHL fee to our K-12 teachers? Regardless of whether we can get some type of campus carry passed, it would still chip away at the resistance to defending our schools, and teachers/administrators/staff at K-12 schools who do get their CHLs would swell the ranks of people predisposed to lobby for ending gun free zones.

[JP171]

If a reduced fee CHL is given to a teacher is has to be considered a benefit same as it is for those of us in the military and does get put on the 1099 form I get from the comptroller every year.

I do agree that the cost is excessive and could be lowered since all DPS does is administrative work with it and does not give the local police/sheriff any of the money for actually researching the background. so 140 divided by 5 is 28 per year, so how low would you like it? 40 for 5? no I am not being disagreeable just looking for a reasonable number as an idea. I pay about 120 a year in license fees just to work so another 28 isn't so bad per year

[apostate]

so how low would you like it? 40 for 5? no I am not being disagreeable just looking for a reasonable number as an idea.

The same price as a DL sounds reasonable to me, especially for address changes and renewals.

[Jumping Frog]

If a reduced fee CHL is given to a teacher is has to be considered a benefit same as it is for those of us in the military and does get put on the 1099 form I get from the comptroller every year.

I do agree that the cost is excessive and could be lowered since all DPS does is administrative work with it and does not give the local police/sheriff any of the money for actually researching the background. so 140 divided by 5 is 28 per year, so how low would you like it? 40 for 5? no I am not being disagreeable just looking for a reasonable number as an idea. I pay about 120 a year in license fees just to work so another 28 isn't so bad per year

I paid $20 for my non-resident PA license. My Utah non-resident renewal will be $15. My original Utah and Ohio licenses were about $50.

[bayouhazard]

It should cost the same as the class and license to vote.

[JP171]

It should cost the same as the class and license to vote.

umm that ain't gonna happen so you can give that up. there are more types of professional licenses now than before the last session all of them range in cost from 15 to 120 a year, my paramedic license costs me 96 for 4. to get the cost changed for the CHL your going to have to show that the cost is excessive by normal standards and excedes the reasonable cost of administering the program, the government employee entitlement group will fight you tooth and nail for this revenue. they justify an existance based upon the backlog and time it takes to complete each step of the process saying well it can't be done that fast. they do this by showing up for work at exactly 8 am, not a minute sooner, walk to the desk take off coat, go make coffee go to the bathroom, come back get cup of coffee, go to desk get on facebook and do stuff till 930 when they go on pre-break break and so on so forth they may really work about 2 to 3 hours a day and thats at a nice sedate pace. so it is an uphill battle, it took us several years to get the AC contractors license fee down to a reasonable level, this being the issue it is its going to take even longer

[cyphur]

so how low would you like it? 40 for 5?

I think $75 for initial applications should do, then $45 for renewels.

Veterans should get it for cost of the card, personally. But $25/$25 sounds good for them(us).

[Oldgringo]

If there is a will, there will be a way. So, how 'bout it, Gov and legislature, what say ye?

[srothstein]

While the CHL bill was originally proposed as revenue neutral, I am not sure if it is neutral. The way to find out is to check on how many CHLs are issued or renewed each year. This will tell you how much income there is from the bill. The DPS would be able to tell you how much the division processing them costs. This would tell us if it is revenue neutral (income exactly equals costs) or not.

If the math reveals us to be a net expense, you could expect to see the CHL cost go up. with the current economy, I would not expect the cost to go down if we are not neutral.

And when we compare it to driver's license costs, we need to remember that the DL is NOT revenue neutral and was never claimed to be. The DPS was paid from the general budget to run DL's well over the amount of income from them.

My guess would be that the CHL fee is fairly close to revenue neutral right now. It might be a little over the actual cost based on a larger number of applicants than were expected, but I don't think it is very high. And while the cost is high for us right now, I would not be willing to press very hard to get it reduced. I am afraid we have much more important battles to face, especially in light of Sen. Feinstein's bill.

[sjfcontrol]

While the CHL bill was originally proposed as revenue neutral, I am not sure if it is neutral. The way to find out is to check on how many CHLs are issued or renewed each year. This will tell you how much income there is from the bill. The DPS would be able to tell you how much the division processing them costs. This would tell us if it is revenue neutral (income exactly equals costs) or not.

If the math reveals us to be a net expense, you could expect to see the CHL cost go up. with the current economy, I would not expect the cost to go down if we are not neutral.

And when we compare it to driver's license costs, we need to remember that the DL is NOT revenue neutral and was never claimed to be. The DPS was paid from the general budget to run DL's well over the amount of income from them.

My guess would be that the CHL fee is fairly close to revenue neutral right now. It might be a little over the actual cost based on a larger number of applicants than were expected, but I don't think it is very high. And while the cost is high for us right now, I would not be willing to press very hard to get it reduced. I am afraid we have much more important battles to face, especially in light of Sen. Feinstein's bill.

Ain't THAT the truth!!!

[Oldgringo]

I must of missed something. I thought the OP's proposal was suggesting that currently active teachers pay a lower fee - something like veterans and geezers get, not an across the board reduction to all.

[MeMelYup]

so how low would you like it? 40 for 5?

I think $75 for initial applications should do, then $45 for renewels.

Veterans should get it for cost of the card, personally. But $25/$25 sounds good for them(us).

And LEO's, and Teachers, and Judges, and Prosicuting Attorneys, and Balif's

[sjfcontrol]

so how low would you like it? 40 for 5?

I think $75 for initial applications should do, then $45 for renewels.

Veterans should get it for cost of the card, personally. But $25/$25 sounds good for them(us).

And LEO's, and Teachers, and Judges, and Prosicuting Attorneys, and Balif's

And SENIORS!

[JP171]

so how low would you like it? 40 for 5?

I think $75 for initial applications should do, then $45 for renewels.

Veterans should get it for cost of the card, personally. But $25/$25 sounds good for them(us).

And LEO's, and Teachers, and Judges, and Prosicuting Attorneys, and Balif's

And SENIORS!

seniors I can see, most of them live on fixed income, however police officers judges lawyers and the baliff(LEO) should NOT most HPD officers make as much if not more than I do all attorneys make more and baliffs are LEO's too so yep they make more, so no they get no break on the cost. my only benefit to my CHL is that I don't pay for it, just for the class just like my Hunting/Fishing License the state gives it to me free. I do agree that its an expensive thing to get a CHL and should be less expensive but unlike a drivers license there isn't a way to subsidise the CHL thru traffic tickets

[RHenriksen]

seniors I can see, most of them live on fixed income, however police officers judges lawyers and the baliff(LEO) should NOT most HPD officers make as much if not more than I do all attorneys make more and baliffs are LEO's too so yep they make more, so no they get no break on the cost. my only benefit to my CHL is that I don't pay for it, just for the class just like my Hunting/Fishing License the state gives it to me free. I do agree that its an expensive thing to get a CHL and should be less expensive but unlike a drivers license there isn't a way to subsidise the CHL thru traffic tickets

Heck, what benefit does a LEO even get from a CHL? They can carry more places than the rest of us