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State Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond, has House Bill 636. There
are 62 co-sponsors on the bill, more than enough to pass the
House with a simple majority of bipartisan lawmakers.
Bourne said there are nine identical bills from Republicans and
Democrats that decrease the trailer fee that was increased in
the governor’s capital bill enacted in 2019.
“I don’t need my bill to be the one to pass, but this is a
terrible, terrible thing that we are not able to repeal this
huge increase that went from $18 for the Boy Scouts to pull a
parade float to $118,” Bourne said Wednesday.
When the House Rules were being crafted, Bourne said
she asked if there could be a rule to allow votes on a bill if there
are enough cosponsors to pass.
“The answer was ‘no,’ and I was kind of laughed at,” Bourne said.
“They said ‘that doesn’t happen, we don’t get the majority of the
body cosponsoring a bill a not get a vote,’ but it is happening
right now.”
State Rep. Mike Zalewski, who is the chairman of the House Revenue
and Finance Committee, said despite having more than enough
cosponsors to pass the measure in the House, he won’t let it out of
committee.
“Until I’m provided with a funding alternative, I’m not going to
willy nilly send every single bill to the floor,” said Zalewski,
D-Riverside.
The following day on the House floor, state Rep. Tim Butler said the
fee increase wasn’t negotiated as part of the governor’s capital
plan. Some Republicans said they were told it was a drafting error,
but Butler said it’s led to as many as 150,000 fewer trailer plate
renewals and needs to be addressed because people can’t afford it.
“Because it is something that we’ve talked about, and talked about,
and talked about, and it drives the public nuts when they contact
our offices and nothing ever gets done on something that would be
easy to fix,” Butler said.
State Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, followed
Butler’s comments Thursday reiterating there are several bills from
Republicans and Democrats to drop the fee. He supports the push.
“Sometimes we have to take a stand and this is one and we need to
call this bill and call this bill this session, thank you very
much,” Moylan said.
Lawmakers are set to return to Springfield on Tuesday.
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