Napoleon54
08-04-2007, 10:11 PM
Second court rules against new abusive driver fees
By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press
© August 4, 2007
RICHMOND
A second Virginia court ruled new surcharges on bad drivers unconstitutional Friday because nonresidents do not pay them.
At the same time, cracks began to show in a bipartisan alliance that has defended the law against a public outcry against it.
One day after a judge in Henrico County became the first to rule that the out-of-state exemption violates the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law, a Richmond General District Court did the same.
The decisions are binding only in the two localities, and appeals of both decisions are pending in circuit courts next week. More constitutional challenges are expected to be filed in other localities next week.
The fees range from $750 in three equal annual installments for driving on a suspended license to $3,000 for driving-related felonies.
With the law under attack in court, strains became evident within the alliance between Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Republican legislative leaders in support of the transportation funding law.
Kaine appeared last month with House Speaker William J. Howell and other top House and Senate Republicans in a bipartisan show of unity for the law amid growing calls for its immediate repeal. In defending the embattled law, the governor and the GOP leaders called it a product of bipartisan compromise.
Since then, Kaine has publicly discussed the prospect of reimbursement for people who have paid the fees when lawmakers consider the law after the 2008 General Assembly convenes in January.
Howell, in a statement issued Thursday in response to the Henrico court ruling, labeled the unpopular nonresident exemption "the Governor's amendment."
The same day, Howell's office sent e-mails to House Republicans offering guidance on how to pen letters to newspaper editors in which they defend the law by noting in part that " Governor Kaine amended the legislation by removing out-of-state drivers from the abusive driver fees."
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo containing the drafts.
Publicly, each side denied targeting the other for blame, and both sides denied that their statements mean they are any less confident in the measure.
"We're talking back-and-forth," said G. Paul Nardo, the speaker's chief adviser. "There's no distancing from them on those points."
Kaine and Howell remain united in opposing a special legislative session to remedy or repeal the fees and prefer to address the problems next year, said Kaine's press secretary, Kevin Hall.
The wording of Howell's statement on Thursday, however, was not lost on Kaine or his advisers.
"You can call it whatever you want," Hall said. "It was a bipartisan effort."
W ith elections for all 140 House and Senate seats just three months away and GOP legislative control at stake, both sides acknowledged that partisan interpretations are inevitable.
The fees are part of the transportation funding package passed this year. The package, containing increases in some annual fees and regional tax increases in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, was the initiative of House and Senate Republicans.
Kaine rewrote the bill and, in the process, deleted a 14-word clause that imposed the fee on nonresidents. Kaine and GOP leaders agreed the fees could not be enforced outside Virginia. In April, legislators overwhelmingly approved Kaine's amendments.
Linky (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=129725&ran=67449)
These surcharges in VA sound exactly like the Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA) crap NY started doing a few years ago. The DRA isn't directly linked to a specific ticket/ violation, it's assessed for having a certain number of cumulative points on your license, and thus I don't see how they could apply to out-of-state drivers either. Perhaps they'll get overturned too. Effing DRA cost me an additional $450 on a $150 speeding ticket a year and a half ago, before I'd ever even heard of it. :mad:
By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press
© August 4, 2007
RICHMOND
A second Virginia court ruled new surcharges on bad drivers unconstitutional Friday because nonresidents do not pay them.
At the same time, cracks began to show in a bipartisan alliance that has defended the law against a public outcry against it.
One day after a judge in Henrico County became the first to rule that the out-of-state exemption violates the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law, a Richmond General District Court did the same.
The decisions are binding only in the two localities, and appeals of both decisions are pending in circuit courts next week. More constitutional challenges are expected to be filed in other localities next week.
The fees range from $750 in three equal annual installments for driving on a suspended license to $3,000 for driving-related felonies.
With the law under attack in court, strains became evident within the alliance between Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Republican legislative leaders in support of the transportation funding law.
Kaine appeared last month with House Speaker William J. Howell and other top House and Senate Republicans in a bipartisan show of unity for the law amid growing calls for its immediate repeal. In defending the embattled law, the governor and the GOP leaders called it a product of bipartisan compromise.
Since then, Kaine has publicly discussed the prospect of reimbursement for people who have paid the fees when lawmakers consider the law after the 2008 General Assembly convenes in January.
Howell, in a statement issued Thursday in response to the Henrico court ruling, labeled the unpopular nonresident exemption "the Governor's amendment."
The same day, Howell's office sent e-mails to House Republicans offering guidance on how to pen letters to newspaper editors in which they defend the law by noting in part that " Governor Kaine amended the legislation by removing out-of-state drivers from the abusive driver fees."
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo containing the drafts.
Publicly, each side denied targeting the other for blame, and both sides denied that their statements mean they are any less confident in the measure.
"We're talking back-and-forth," said G. Paul Nardo, the speaker's chief adviser. "There's no distancing from them on those points."
Kaine and Howell remain united in opposing a special legislative session to remedy or repeal the fees and prefer to address the problems next year, said Kaine's press secretary, Kevin Hall.
The wording of Howell's statement on Thursday, however, was not lost on Kaine or his advisers.
"You can call it whatever you want," Hall said. "It was a bipartisan effort."
W ith elections for all 140 House and Senate seats just three months away and GOP legislative control at stake, both sides acknowledged that partisan interpretations are inevitable.
The fees are part of the transportation funding package passed this year. The package, containing increases in some annual fees and regional tax increases in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, was the initiative of House and Senate Republicans.
Kaine rewrote the bill and, in the process, deleted a 14-word clause that imposed the fee on nonresidents. Kaine and GOP leaders agreed the fees could not be enforced outside Virginia. In April, legislators overwhelmingly approved Kaine's amendments.
Linky (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=129725&ran=67449)
These surcharges in VA sound exactly like the Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA) crap NY started doing a few years ago. The DRA isn't directly linked to a specific ticket/ violation, it's assessed for having a certain number of cumulative points on your license, and thus I don't see how they could apply to out-of-state drivers either. Perhaps they'll get overturned too. Effing DRA cost me an additional $450 on a $150 speeding ticket a year and a half ago, before I'd ever even heard of it. :mad: