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Senate panel advances bill clarifying vehicle-registration rule after DFA warns of fund risk
Summary
The Senate committee approved House Bill 18‑49 to clarify that residents who do not drive a vehicle on public roads and sign an affidavit need not pay registration fees. The Department of Finance and Administration opposed the bill, saying it could reduce highway funds and urging a different fix requiring surrender of license plates.
The Senate Transportation, Technology & Legislative Affairs Committee voted to pass House Bill 18‑49, which sponsors said preserves a long-standing practice that people who do not use a vehicle on public roads should not owe annual registration fees.
Representative Dela Rosa, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the bill simply restates a 50‑year practice: "If you don't drive your car on public roads, you don't owe a registration fee for it." She said the measure clarifies current practice so citizens are not unexpectedly charged years of fees after using an affidavit process to attest they did not operate the vehicle.
John Tice of the Department of Finance and Administration testified in opposition. He said the bill "will encourage people to operate motor vehicles without paying their vehicle registration fees" and argued that previously passed committee language requiring a license‑plate surrender was a clearer way to prevent evasions and protect highway funding that supports cities and counties.
Committee members pressed both sides on the underlying statutory language. DFA staff explained there is an interpretive tension in state code: one provision makes the fee due annually while another describes the fee as a "privilege tax for operating and driving a vehicle on the highways," and revenue offices have not applied the provisions consistently.
Sponsor Dela Rosa said the affidavit process waives penalties and, in her view, did not intend a requirement that citizens take proactive steps far in advance. She said a requirement to surrender license plates would place an unreasonable burden on citizens who temporarily do not intend to operate a vehicle.
The committee passed HB 18‑49 by voice vote. No recorded tally was taken in committee; the bill will proceed to the next legislative stage.
The committee’s debate highlighted a choice lawmakers will face going forward: preserve longstanding, affidavit‑based practice or adopt a statutory fix that requires more formal plate surrender to reduce the risk of lost registration revenue.
