Proposed legislation in both the state House and Senate will help keep dog law enforcement funded and modernize dog licensing throughout the state.

Last week Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard brought up Senate Bill 738 and House Bill 1463, which were introduced recently.The bills, if passed, would enable the state to continue cracking down on illegal kennels and offenders; make getting a dog license easier through a statewide online portal and provide resources to protect the public from dangerous dogs.Gerhard said that the problem in Pennsylvania with the dog law enforcement began in 2009 when the state diverted $4 million from the restricted fund to help balance its budget. That diversion has depleted the fund and is expected to run out of money next year if nothing is done."I don't care what party it is, but to me a restricted fund is a restricted fund," Gerhard said. "This legislation, I think, is great legislation and I am 100 percent behind it."He asked Ron Sheehan, county treasurer, to weigh in on the matter since his office deals with dog licensing.Sheehan said that this past year, the state actually was forced to hold some of the invoices into January to be able to pay the bills out of the restricted fund because the balance was dipping too low."When $4 million was taken out of the fund, that really took a crimp to the overall health of the fund and they are just starting to rebuild it," he said. "With this legislation it will build that fund back to sustainable."Sheehan pointed out that dog license fees haven't been raised in more than 20 years and these bills would increase the annual fee from $6.50 to $10 and the lifetime license from $31.50 to $47."That seems like quite a jump until you realize it's a statewide licensing where a dog license in Scranton costs $35 a year and Altoona charges $54 for a lifetime license," Sheehan said. "So it's really keeping in line (with inflation)."He added that the funding would also allow the state to create a statewide licensing program for dog licenses.Years ago, Carbon County spent $23,000 in upgrading its license program and now spends about $2,600 a year in maintenance on the program. If the state creates a program, that cost would go away.He added that the possibility of a reimbursement program that Carbon County had with the state for running its own shelter, which was taken away a few years ago, may also come back if the fund health grows."I think it is a good set of bills and long overdue," Sheehan said.