Increased vehicle registration fee clears House committee

Apparently not every tax hike proposal will be dead on arrival this legislative session.

A bill that would increase the cost to register cars, trucks and motorcycles was approved by the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee Wednesday morning.

HB140, sponsored by Craig Frank, R-Cedar Hills, will add a new $2 fee to most motor vehicle registrations in the state to help pay for Highway Patrol officers threatened by state budget cuts.

Frank said his proposal would "make sure that we can protect those who protect us" in tough economic times. He said his goal is to hold trooper levels where they are now regardless of funding cuts that are widely expected in the coming year.

Frank said he would prefer to pay for troopers out of the state's general fund but acknowledged that the current economic climate makes that unlikely.

"It's not going to happen this year," Frank said.

A $2 increase wasn't enough for Rep. Richard Greenwood, R-Roy, who is a retired Utah Highway Patrol trooper. Greenwood suggested a fee of $4 to help hire more officers than the force currently has.

Greenwood told fellow lawmakers that the force has the same number of officers today as three decades ago.

"We never do step up to the plate, as far as I have seen since 1976, to support these troopers," Greenwood said.

He told the committee that, by supporting a new fee, he was breaking a promise he made to his constituents and could pay dearly for it.

"If I'm voted out of office in a year and a half, at least I know I did the right thing trying to get more troopers," Greenwood said.

The committee shot down Greenwood's proposal for a $4 increase before approving Frank's original bill calling for a $2 fee.

Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, who voted against both fees, lamented having made a pledge similar to Greenwood's to voters in his House district.

He scolded the Legislature for funding museums and other projects he called "nice to haves" while not showing the "intestinal fortitude" to pay for the fundamental role of government — defending the rights of individuals through robust law enforcement.

"In my three years on Capitol Hill, I've never had my stomach in such knots," Wimmer said. "I made a pledge too. I signed it and put it on my Web site. It sucks, but I have to be a man of my word and oppose this bill."

E-MAIL: dservatius@desnews.com