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Va. Senate repeals abusive driver fees
RICHMOND - The Virginia Senate passed legislation Thursday, Jan. 30 to repeal the unpopular abusive driver fees.
Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Edward Houck (DSpotsylvania), repeals section 46.2-206.1 of the Code of Virginia also known as the abusive driver fees. The fees were included as part of last year's transportation package.
"Today we remove one of the biggest mistakes I have seen this legislature make," said Houck. "The people have spoken loudly that they wanted these fees gone, and that is what we have done."
Several other Democratic senators, George Barker (Fairfax), Creigh Deeds (Bath), Mark Herring (Loudoun) and Chap Petersen (Fairfax City), were added as patrons to the bill.
Deeds agreed this was an issue watched closely by many Virginians. "This was one of the first issues many of us wanted to tackle when we started the General Assembly session. We voted today to undo one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation in Virginia's history," he said.
Democratic senators worked with Sen. Kenneth Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) to draft and pass amendments to refund the fines paid by those who have been assessed an abusive driver fee.
In addition, an emergency clause was added to the bill to ensure the repeal goes into effect immediately after being passed through the House of Delegates and signed by the governor.
"This is a clean repeal. It puts the burden on us to contact those who were convicted under the statute. It sets up a streamlined process to refund these fees and clarifies that no one will lose their license for failure to pay an abuser fee," Sen. Chap Petersen said on the floor of the Senate speaking in favor of the amendments.
The bill was passed 39-0 in the Senate with Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) not voting. It now moves on to the House of Delegates for passage.
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