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http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/03/03032008_Rossi-still-influential-on-state-budget.cfm

Engine-size issue won’t die

Even with a spike plunged through its heart, it’s the bill that keeps coming back.

Senate Bill 6900 has become a legend in Olympia. Introduced by Sen. Rodney Tom, a Bellevue Democrat, it proposed to add a hefty “vehicle engine displacement fee” to car tab renewal costs, with fees assessed on a sliding scale depending on engine size.

The bill failed to get even a hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee. It died Feb. 19. But word got out about SB 6900, and an e-mail campaign warning that the bill could cost the average two-car family $500 a year took on a life of its own. It got so bad that Transportation Chairwoman Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen put out a press release saying, “I’ve never had so many people asking me to kill a bill that’s already dead.”

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, who signed on as a co-sponsor, explained to a constituent that he opposed the bill but wanted to open a discussion about how to require owners of large vehicles to pay extra for the greenhouse gases they emit and the wear and tear they inflict on roads.

The e-mails are still coming. Republican leaders, who deny they orchestrated this campaign, had a chuckle last week about what happens when you pit global climate change against a person’s vehicle engine size.

Kathie Durbin can be reached in The Columbian’s Olympia bureau at kathie.durbin@columbian.com.