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http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/02/25/area_news/10124040.txt

Longview Daily News

Fuming over dead bill persists
Monday, February 25, 2008 5:33 AM PST
By Stephanie Mathieu
smathieu@tdn.com

OLYMPIA - A bill to increase vehicle licensing fees died weeks ago, but to the frustration of local lawmakers, people just won't stop talking about it.

Lawmakers from the 19th District have received hundreds of calls and e-mails from concerned constituents regarding Senate Bill 6900. The measure, which would have distributed fees based on a vehicle's engine size, stalled Feb. 6 in the Transportation Committee, and the cutoff date to move bills from their chamber of origin has passed.

Still, Rep. Dean Takko, D-Longview, said he comes into work each morning to about 50 e-mails regarding the bill. He, along with Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, and Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, even issued a statement last week to put their voters at ease.

"It's dead. I mean it's really dead," Takko said of the bill in an interview Friday. "But (the e-mails) just keep coming in. They're really slamming us."

All three lawmakers stressed that they "strongly oppose" the measure. SB 6900 would have been unfair and had a greater impact on rural areas, where larger vehicles are used for industry and agriculture, Takko said.

According to the measure, vehicles with engines less than 2 liters in size would pay no additional fees, but other drivers could pay rates ranging from $70 for a 2-liter engine to $800 if their vehicle's engine is 8 liters or more.

The Daily News has received calls and letters to the editor about the bill, and forum members on The Daily News' Web site, tdn.com, continued to debate the licensing fees this week.

Takko said he doesn't know why discussion of the measure gained so much momentum, but he speculated it started as a grumble among grass-roots groups or was spurred by a letter to the editor.

"Luckily for all of us, the bill was so strongly opposed it did not receive a public hearing, it will not be voted upon this year, and it will not become a law," the three lawmakers said in their statement.

brandyland · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject:

Thank you much for clearing that up. Smile

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:17 pm Post subject:

Excellent!

-Schultzy

Twilightoptics · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject:

Dewey316 · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:42 pm Post subject:

I'm glad to see the rual area's making a statement like that. I am sure that in WA things happen like they do in OR, and a very large majority of policy is made by the seatte/portland metro area's.