[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Ben Ficklin :" All of it goes directly into the Game, Fish and Water Safety Fund-officially, Fund 9-which, by law, can be used only to fund TPWD programs."

Well , that's not how it is here , behind enemy lines.
Micro-manager Andy Cuomo considers the 'general fund' as his personal piggey-bank of goodies to be distributed among the government elite as re-election favors.
Congrats on being in a reasonable state ; my loss (for now).

[Ben Ficklin]

New York Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources

Here they talk about funding with most of their money coming from the Conservation Fund which collects the license fees.

The second source is the federal aid which is the federal excise tax on fishing, hunting, and boating.

The third source is the general fund.

The State of Texas also has an excise tax on sporting goods. A fishing lure in Texas is very high priced but it includes the 12% fed excise tax and the 12% state excise tax