House recalls boat bill, passes $8 increase

House members can be a fickle bunch — kill a fee increase one day, pass it the next.

Representatives, with little debate, recalled and passed HB225 on Tuesday, a bill that increases the annual boat registration fee from $10 to $18. The House killed Rep. Brent Goodfellow's boat bill a week ago.

Goodfellow convinced colleagues, however, that since the boat fee has not been raised since 1987, now, with record-low water levels in many Utah lakes and reservoirs, is the time to spend money on needed repairs to boat ramps and docks.

The bill will raise $600,000, all the cash spent by the state parks department on boat- related facilities.

"This is the right way for consumers" of boating facilities to pay for them, said Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab.