CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Governor Earl Ray Tomblin is pledging not to veto legislation raising fees from the Division of Motor Vehicles, as he did in 2011, if a bill adding to those fees along with the wholesale gasoline tax in certain cases to bring in money for roads makes it to his desk.
On Tuesday morning, the future of that proposed highway funding bill looked bleak, though, when House Finance Committee Chair Eric Nelson (R-Kanawha, 35) moved SB 555 off his committee’s agenda citing a lack of support for the measure following several hours of discussions a day earlier.
Raising DMV fees and increasing the wholesale tax on gasoline by three cents a gallon, when gas prices fall below $2 a gallon, could generate more than $115 million annually for roads, according to the bill’s supporters.
With several days left in the 2016 Regular Legislative Session, there is still time for the proposal, which had included a recalculation of the privilege tax on vehicles at one point, to be revived and keep moving in some form.
During an appearance on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline,” Tomblin said he hoped that would be the case.
“To add another $115 million to the Division of Highways budget, we could do a lot of things with that,” Tomblin said.
As proposed in the bill that’s now stalled, increases to existing fees, like those for registrations, titles, license plates, decals and ID cars, along with additional fees paid to the DMV would go into the State Road Fund.
Some of those fees, Tomblin noted, have not been raised in nearly 50 years.
“Those are fees that actually cost the department to issue,” he said.
Tomblin justified his 2011 veto of DMV increases, which came when he was acting governor and gas prices were above $4 per gallon, this way: “We were having a lot more income coming in at that time than we are today simply because the price has gone below $2 a gallon,” he said.
“It’s a little bit different situation we’re having today.”
SB 555, which came out of the Senate with a 25-9 vote on March 2, included a one percent sales tax increase for additional road funding the House has since removed. The Senate version of the bill could generate $250 million, according to analysts.
Any new action on the proposed bill will have to come before the end of the 2016 Regular Legislative Session on Saturday night.