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Committee approves increase to driver's license fees to cover program costs
Summary
Senate Bill 2381 — sponsored by Sen. Mike Dwyer — would raise many driver's license and transaction fees that the DOT says are currently subsidized by the highway fund. The committee approved the bill as amended and referred it to Appropriations.
Senate Bill 2381, which would raise a range of driver's license and related fees, cleared the Senate Transportation Committee on a do-pass recommendation after sponsor Mike Dwyer and Department of Transportation staff outlined the program shortfall.
Sponsor explanation: Senator Mike Dwyer (District 47) told the committee that the driver's license division issues more credentials than the fees currently cover. "The cost of the driver's license division, currently this passed by any means $17,000,000 and the amount that comes in from the fees is $9,000,000. So $8,000,000 has to come out of the highway fund to subsidize the driver's license division," Dwyer said. The bill sets new fees for many transactions — in many cases roughly doubling existing charges — so the license-issuing unit would be self-supporting and free the highway fund for roads and bridges.
Amendments and department input: Committee members asked DOT leadership about how the fee schedule was set and whether inflation-based indexing would be preferable. DOT Director Ron Henke said the department worked with the sponsor on averages and renewals to determine fee levels. Committee members agreed to three technical changes: change a $5 line item to $6 (paragraph N), remove an overlapping paragraph P, and remove a duplicated reporting requirement (paragraph 4). The committee approved those amendments by roll call.
Vote and next steps: After amendment votes, the committee voted to give Senate Bill 2381 a do-pass recommendation and referred it to the Appropriations Committee. The committee recorded the amendments' passage and the final vote by roll call; senators voting aye included Chairman Clemens, Vice Chair Corey, Senator Rommel, Senator Klein, Senator Paulson and others.
What’s next: Because the bill proposes revenue changes that affect the highway fund and other DOT operations, its referral to Appropriations signals further fiscal review and potential negotiation on final fee levels.
