The House has voted 55-15 in favor of HB 533, the bill from Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, to raise boat sticker fees for the anti-invasive species program by $2 for owners of all non-motorized boats and for owners of out-of-state motorized boats. The money would go to a vendor fee to get vendors around the state to sell the stickers. Opponents said it was too soon to raise the fees - now $5 for non-motorized craft and $20 for out-of-state motorized boats - less than a year into the program. "We need to bring everybody to the table," said Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, who noted that non-motorized boat owners face a 40 percent fee increase. "We're expecting one group of people to pay." Hagedorn called for re-evaluating the whole program, which he said is "running on baling wire and duct tape."

But backers said there's no time, with the threat of invasive quagga and zebra mussels from other states getting into Idaho's waterways. "We don't have a year to make this plan better," said Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover. Rep. Pat Takasugi, R-Wilder, a former state Department of Agriculture director, said, "I don't know if there's any bill that's passed this body that hasn't had a problem, but let that go. ... This is true threat. ... We have to get on it right now." Several representatives noted that last year, the only way many stickers got around the state for sale was because Anderson personally traveled the state with a bag of them, asking vendors to volunteer to sell them. "My word on this is that I'm doing what I can," Anderson told the House. The bill now moves to the Senate.