This may come as a shock to some, but the $4 is not really $4 and there are no incremental matching funds for the $4 added fee.
Part or all of the $4 was allocated to paying for enforcement and administration according to the rationale for charging $4 more than the subcontractor expense per licensee. So there is less than $4 to spend on "matching programs"
But, the federal matching funds are already part of the RI budget and maxed out by normal spending.
For example, the total federal allocation for 2014 of the Dingell Johnson Sport Fish Restoration funds was the minimum 1% allocation of $3,257,403. 12 other states received the same amounts including Connecticut and Massachusetts.
This means that RI would only have had to spend $1,085,801 to qualify for these funds. I'm pretty sure that all the normal spending for hatcheries, stocking programs, biologists, education, ramp maintenance habitat and other programs and related personnel easily exceeds the total amount already so there is likely no more money incrementally available from the federal funds anyway.
Just sayin'
I don't care about paying for a license because it's a cheap alternative within the realities. But lets not fool ourselves about how "great" the added $4 is for the resource. It really doesn't amount to much.
As an FYI, the federal registration fee is now $15, down from $25.