Free Republic

Part of a fee that motorists pay to a road and bridge fund is being used for transit projects across Colorado, and Senate Republicans don't believe that's right. As a result, the Colorado Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would change that. ... "The intent of this bill is to ensure that the money paid by citizens for the improvement of roads and bridges when they pay their vehicle registration fees is actually used for roads and bridges," Neville said. "The definition of a fee is that it should be utilized for those who are paying the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) -- A controversial plan to raise the cost of registering your car in California could soon be in the works in Sacramento. Even with the Democrats' new supermajority, there are doubts lawmakers will be able to push through another tax. In what could be the Democrats' first test in the new supermajority powers in the Legislature, a group called Transportation California has asked St. Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, to introduce legislation to triple the vehicle license fee you pay to register your cars.

The multitude of mysteries revealed following the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' death now includes one that puzzled car enthusiasts for years: How did Jobs get away with driving without a license plate? It was common knowledge that Jobs would park his Mercedes SL55 AMG in a handicapped spot at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, with nothing to identify his vehicle other than the tiny barcode that usually rests behind the rear license plate. According to Walter Isaacson's new biography, Jobs wanted to avoid having a plate for privacy reasons; and yet when having a license-less silver Mercedes became a...

Obama floats plan to tax cars by the mile By Pete Kasperowicz - 05/05/11 07:45 AM ET The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive. The plan is a part of the administration's "Transportation Opportunities Act," an undated draft of which was obtained this week by Transportation Weekly. This follows a March Congressional Budget Office report that supported the idea of taxing drivers based on miles driven. Among other things, CBO suggested that a vehicle miles traveled (VMT)...

February 20, 2009 Vehicle fee increase to further hurt struggling businesses Taxi and limo companies as well as businesses that offer delivery services will take the biggest hit, owners say. By DEEPA BHARATH THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Steeper vehicle licensing fees could seriously affect taxicab, limo and delivery service businesses in Orange County that are already struggling to survive in a tough economy, local business owners said. State lawmakers have raised the fee for licensing vehicles in the state from 0.65 percent of the vehicle's value to 1.15 percent, which for a $40,000 car jacks the cost to $460 from...

Reporting from Sacramento -- In private negotiations over the state's budget crisis, a top Republican legislator has broached the most dreaded idea in GOP circles: taxes. The leader of the Assembly's Republicans, Mike Villines of Clovis, has publicly maintained the GOP's hard line against any tax increases. But last month, he volunteered to other legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that he might support an increase in the vehicle license fee and persuade other GOP lawmakers to go along, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. Two of the sources were in the budget meeting where Villines spoke,...

In private negotiations over the state's budget crisis, a top Republican legislator has broached the most dreaded idea in GOP circles: taxes. The leader of the Assembly's Republicans, Mike Villines of Clovis, has publicly maintained the GOP's hard line against any tax increases. But last month, he volunteered to other legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that he might support an increase in the vehicle license fee and persuade other GOP lawmakers to go along, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.

East Bay lawmakers predict a gruesome fight this spring over both the gaping state budget deficit and the rules under which California makes its financial decisions. California's projected $8 billion deficit for the upcoming fiscal year will force some tough choices because less painful options have been exhausted. The Legislature is on a partisan collision course between unpopular cuts and less popular tax increases, including the vehicle license fee. Republicans and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vow "no new taxes" while Democrats, labor unions and advocates for recipients of state-funded services, including schools, seniors and the poor, have called for a mix...

SACRAMENTO — Acting on the last batch of bills from what experts called a disappointing regular legislative year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday signed into law a controversial increase in motorists' fees that is intended to raise millions to develop alternative fuel and clean-air technology. Consumer advocates condemned the bill for putting the costs on the backs of motorists rather than oil companies. Schwarzenegger also signed what became known as the "toxic toys" bill, which makes California the first state to prohibit the use of chemical compounds called phthalates in products designed for children under 3 years old. Making his...

There is a pair of bills on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk that puts him on the spot: They would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, including a hike in the "car tax" that Schwarzenegger vilified in his first campaign for office. ... The measures as passed were not publicly debated. They received little vetting by policy experts. They were not fully written until the clock had almost run out on lawmakers preparing to adjourn and get out of town last month. And key provisions were shaped by a small group of big campaign contributors. The causes were advanced by...

Vote due on gas-guzzler fees By Chris Bowman - Bee Staff Writer Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, June 7, 2007 Here's one way to combat global warming: Take $2,500 out of the pockets of new Hummer owners and give it to buyers of the Toyota Prius. That's essentially the proposal set for a vote today or Friday on the Assembly floor of the California Legislature. The same body that passed the nation's first law curbing climate-altering or "greenhouse" tailpipe exhausts is debating a system of fees and rebates to coax some of those emission cuts from new car buyers. The...

If California wants to achieve its goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 to fight global warming, it must find a way to cut down the biggest source of those pollutants: cars, trucks and other motor vehicles. Even though transportation contributes 41 percent of greenhouse gases, our society is too geographically dispersed and mobile to realistically expect that we can dramatically reduce the number of miles we drive, ride and fly. So that means our vehicles need to become far more fuel-efficient. The less gasoline per mile that a car uses, the less heat-trapping carbon dioxide it spews...

RICHMOND -- Virginia's car-tax relief program is stuck in reverse. Starting next year, taxpayers will be required to pay local governments more money for the privilege of owning their cars. The state currently picks up 70 percent of motorists' car-tax bills, leaving car owners to pay the remaining 30 percent to their locality. However, the state's reimbursement will fall to 68 percent next year and 66 percent in 2008; it will continue to fall to 58 percent in 2013. Two years ago, the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved a $950 million cap on the state's total reimbursement. As more Virginians buy...

<p>A disappointed Gov. Jim Gilmore finally conceded yesterday that the state can't provide full car-tax relief next year, which he'd promised to do when he ran for office.</p> <p>He said the state will have to struggle mightily just to make up an $890 million budget shortfall.</p>

RICHMOND, Feb. 25 -- Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R-Winchester) announced Friday that he is running for Virginia governor as an "independent Republican" and will mount a populist, pro-investment campaign against the two major party candidates. Potts, a senator for 14 years, said that he remains faithful to the principles of his party but that the GOP's rightward drift has put it out of line with the thinking of most Virginians. "I believe that Virginia is a moderate, middle-of-the-road state," said Potts, 65. "That's where I am." He vowed to turn back one of the most popular political promises in...

Additional car-tax relief hit a dead end yesterday. House-passed legislation jump-starting the rollback of the local tax on personal motor vehicles was, in effect, defeated for the year in the Senate Finance Committee. The committee, dominated by moderate Republicans who consider the car-tax phaseout a budget-buster, refused to even vote on the bill, sponsored by Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-

What else do you expect from a RINO who supported the transportation tax referendum and is himself a Tom Davis clone.

Virginia House Speaker William J. Howell said yesterday he will support efforts to lift the cap on the state's car-tax-relief program in light of a budget surplus he expects could reach as high as $800 million over two years. Mr. Howell, Stafford County Republican, said the car tax on Virginia drivers is "incredibly unpopular" and "unfair." "I'd like to be done with the car tax, and I'd like to see the caps come off," Mr. Howell said during a meeting with editors and reporters at The Washington Times. "It's going to be difficult to take the cap off the car...

<p>Gov. Mark R. Warner yesterday challenged lawmakers to make a decision about the popular car-tax-relief program that has stalled because of a soft economy.</p> <p>"Either finish it or change the extent of the obligation," said Warner, whose two-year state budget had proposed finishing the phaseout of the levy by 2008.</p>

<p>Berkeley's passionate hate affair with the automobile is heating up.</p> <p>Seeking to squeeze cash out of conspicuous consumers and packrats to help ease its budget crunch, the city of speed bumps and neighborhood traffic barriers is trying to figure out a way to do something unprecedented: tax residents who own multiple cars.</p>