Tue., April 14, 2009

ITD fee bill to be amended

Senate Transportation Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, left, and Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, right, share a laugh during a Senate Transportation Committee meeting on Tuesday, at which the panel voted to amend two transportation bills to try to add in funding increases. (Betsy Russell / The Spokesman-Review)

No one testified against the ITD fee-increase bill, SB 1087, but Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, moved to send it to the 14th Order for amendments, and Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, seconded the motion. Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, responded, "I might've missed it, I might've drifted off at some point. I hadn't heard the need to amend the bill. I'm taken aback by the motion - I'm shocked and stunned." Committee Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, responded, "You certainly look shocked and stunned." Hammond and Keough then talked about the possibility of raising fees for driver's license testers. When McGee asked if there was any other discussion, Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, commented, "As long as we're making stuff up..." The motion then passed on a party-line vote, with the panel's two Democrats objecting.

Posted April 14, 2009, 1:18 p.m.