HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 2483

As Passed Legislature

Title: An act relating to the disposition of title fees.

Brief Description: Modifying the disposition of title fees.

Sponsors: By Representatives Murray and McIntire.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Transportation: 1/29/04 [DP].

Floor Activity:

Passed House: 2/16/04, 97-0.

Passed Senate: 3/2/04, 47-0.

Passed Legislature.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 28 members: Representatives Murray, Chair; Rockefeller, Vice Chair; Simpson, G., Vice Chair; Ericksen, Ranking Minority Member; Jarrett, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Armstrong, Bailey, Campbell, Clibborn, Cooper, Dickerson, Edwards, Flannigan, Hankins, Hatfield, Hudgins, Kristiansen, Lovick, Mielke, Morris, Nixon, Rodne, Romero, Schindler, Shabro, Sullivan, Wallace and Woods.

Staff: Jerry Long (786-7306).

Background:

Senate Bill 6072, which passed during the 2003 session, transferred some vehicle title fees to accounts funding three activities: (1) retrofitting school buses with exhaust emission control devices; (2) locating a tug boat at the entrance of the Straight of Juan de Fuca whose primary mission is to arrest the drift of disabled vessels in order to prevent a spill; and (3) to provide funding to the nickel account.

After the 2003 session it was found that the language in SB 6072 did not transfer the funds to the appropriate accounts that were intended in the bill, thus not providing the funding necessary to provide the services that the bill intended.

Summary of Bill:

Corrections are made to the disposition of title fee revenue to meet the intentions and the appropriations made in SB 6072.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect on July 1, 2004.

Testimony For: United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the Department of Ecology testified in favor of the bill. The bill is a technical cleanup bill. There are 125 school districts with 2,600 buses signed up to have school buses retrofitted with the emission control devices. The devices will reduce emissions from the buses by 25 percent that is harmful to the children riding those buses. The state has a model program. The tug boat at Neah Bay since September 2003 has responded to 23 vessel incidents.

Testimony Against: None.

Persons Testifying: Representative Murray, prime sponsor; Janis Hastings, Environmental Protection Agency; Dennis McLerran, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency; and Stuart Clark, Department of Ecology.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.