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Committee reports bill to codify budget-carried tax provisions; most fee changes memorialize existing practice
Summary
HB2544 moves several provisions that have historically been included only in the budget into statutory code; Department of Taxation staff said the fee figures in the bill reflect amounts already charged rather than new increases. Committee reported the bill 14-1.
House Finance Committee reported HB2544, a bill that moves multiple policy items historically carried in budget language into the statutory code. Committee members said the change is intended to improve clarity by placing recurring policy provisions in the code rather than only in the Appropriations Act.
Delegate Delia Watts presented the bill and explained that it consolidates provisions that have been repeated in the budget for years — including vehicle registration and regional motor-fuel sales-tax language, federally funded research and development direction, and conservation provisions. Watts said the bill would place those items in code to provide transparency rather than relying on recurring budget language.
Anna Duncan of the Department of Taxation told the committee that several numeric edits in the bill — for example striking $4.25 and listing $6.25 for specified registration fees — merely memorialize charges that have been in practice for some time and do not represent new increases. "That is not any sort of fee or tax increase. It rather simply memorializes what the number has been for some number of years," Duncan said.
Delegates asked whether aviation fuel is excluded from the regional motor-fuel sales tax; Tax and committee members confirmed that aviation fuel has been exempted from the regional motor-fuel sales tax by appropriation language and remains excluded under the provision described in the bill. The committee reported HB2544 by voice and recorded vote 14-1.
Votes at a glance: HB2544 — reported by committee, vote 14-1.
