Will governor sign vehicle-fee bill?

The Sierra Club is worried that the governor may veto AB 2444, East Bay Assemblymember Johan Klehs' bill to address air and water pollution from motor vehicles.

The bill would allow increases of up to $10 in motor-vehicle registration fees in the nine-county Bay Area to fund air, water, and transportation programs.

We are hopeful that the bill, already passed by the Assembly, will clear the Senate in August and land on Gov. Schwarzenegger's desk in September. Unfortunately, because AB 2444 would increase a fee without residents voting, the governor may oppose it. He must sign or veto it by the end of September.

Adding to our concern is that another vehicle-registration-fee bill, SB 1611 by Sen. Joe Simitian, does call for a countywide vote. Unlike AB 2444, however, Simitian's bill includes no requirement that the programs funded by the fee, up to $25, address air or water pollution. Historically, registration-fee surcharges have been used to mitigate the pollution generated by traffic, not for highway improvements that allegedly reduce congestion, and we want to ensure that surcharges are used to address pollution.

WhatYouCanDo

Thanks to all of you who contacted your state senators in support of AB 2444. Now we need your help again.

Contact Gov. Schwarzenegger at:
governor@governor.ca.gov
(916)445-2841
fax: (916)445-4633

Urge him to live up to his promises to be an environmental governor and to sign AB 2444.

Irvin Dawid