ABUSIVE DRIVERSwhat will replace revenue? bill killing fees advances

A Senate committee has voted to repeal the controversial abusive-driver fees

By Chelyen Davis

Date published: 1/24/2008

RICHMOND--A Senate committee yesterday advanced a bill to repeal the abusive-driver fees, but without a gas tax increase that some lawmakers say will come separately.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania --at least a dozen other bills have been rolled into it--simply repeals last year's law to impose extra fees on "abusive drivers." Public outcry over the fees has been so great that those who pushed for them last year have backpedaled this session, and the repeal of them is practically noncontroversial. Even the House voted this week to repeal them.

"We crossed the line of public trust," Houck said. "This is getting the stake driven in this bad boy's heart each step in the process."

Houck also rejected adding an emergency clause to the bill at this stage, although he wants to add one later. An emergency clause would make the bill go into effect when Gov. Tim Kaine signs it, rather than July 1. But it also requires a four-fifths vote to pass a bill with an emergency clause, and Houck said he doesn't know if he has that many votes.

Also still at issue is how--or whether--to replace the $65 million-a-year the fees were expected to generate.

They haven't brought in nearly that kind of money, Houck pointed out yesterday to the Senate Finance Committee, but the state transportation six-year plan is built with that money in mind--about $385 million over six years, said Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol.

Some senators want to plug that hole with an increase in the gas tax. Three other bills on the committee's docket yesterday repealed the fees and raised the gas tax; they were all conformed to Houck's bill, thus stripping the gas tax off them, but that isn't the end of the issue.

"I'm certainly an advocate for looking at how we replace this [money]," said Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, who had sponsored one of those bills. "Clearly we are creating a hole in what the Department of Transportation thought they were going to have. Motor fuels tax is the most legitimate user fee out there."

Hanger said a 2-cent increase in the gas tax would generate about $104 million a year.

Hanger isn't the only one pushing for a gas tax increase.

"I am expecting something out there. If not I'm not going to be very happy," said Sen. Philip Puckett, D-Russell, who also had a bill that repealed the abuser fees and raised the gas tax, and who agreed to have his bill conformed to Houck's bill.

Houck, too, expects a separate gas tax bill to provide more money for transportation.

"I'm more aware now of how bad the funding for transportation is," Houck said. "We're realizing now that the transportation program we passed last year has huge holes. We have to go back and revisit the whole revenue again."

Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com

The abusive driver fees that were implemented last July would be repealed this July 1. But people who have already paid the fees will not get refunds under the measure.

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Date published: 1/24/2008