A bill that would cut motor vehicle registration fees is headed to the Senate floor despite facing an uncertain future in the House.
- BRANDON LARRABEE, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
A bill rolling back motor vehicle registration fees is headed to the Senate floor despite facing an uncertain future in the House.
The measure (SB 1832) easily cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee, the only committee the bill was sent to by Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. After the vote on Thursday, Gaetz issued a statement making it clear he wants the bill to pass.
?Not only will his bill rid our state of an antiquated government subsidy for the insurance industry, but, more importantly, it will keep money in the pockets of our hard-working taxpayers,? Gaetz said. ?I am glad to see the proposal, which will reduce vehicle registration for every Floridian who drives a car, move to the Senate floor.?
The bill would reduce the annual cost to register a motor vehicle by $12. Those fees were increased in the 2009 session as part of a deal to close a budget gap; Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said the new bill would roll back the four-year-old hike by 55 percent.
In return, insurance companies would lose a premium tax credit of up to 15 percent of the salaries they pay to Florida-based employees. Doing away with the tax credit will raise about $231 million a year, according to the committee?s estimates, which will cover the projected $224 million cost of rolling back the fees.
But the bill faces strong resistance from the insurance industry and business groups. Associated Industries of Florida has started airing a television ad calling the insurance credit ?the Working Tax Cut? and urging senators to vote against it.
House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, told reporters late Wednesday that the bill would need to be assigned to a committee because there isn?t a counterpart in the House. Few committees are scheduled to meet again in the legislative session, which is set to last for about two more weeks, but Weatherford noted he could call a meeting if he needed to.
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