Civil fees may be refunded

By JIM NOLAN
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
Published: March 8, 2008

Motorists tagged with Virginia’s bad-driver fees would be issued refunds and their remaining fines forgiven under compromise legislation forged yesterday to repeal the despised law.

The new legislative substitute to Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1243—the product of a conference committee of three senators and three delegates—is expected to be approved today in both houses.

The bill contains an emergency clause that would allow it to take effect immediately if it is signed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. He has expressed support for repealing the law and providing relief to those affected.

“If they got charged with abuser fees and paid them, they’re going to get paid back,“ said Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, a member of the committee that came up with the final draft of the repeal legislation.

Petersen said roughly $6.5 million in fees have been paid since the law took effect in July.

Under the new legislation repealing the law, the Virginia Supreme Court will provide the list of names of those charged with fees to the state Comptroller’s Office, which will then issue refund checks.

The bill also instructs court clerks throughout the state to mark the judgments against the motorists charged with fees as “satisfied”—meaning they will not have to pay the remaining portion of the bad-driver fees, which can total $3,000 over three years for a particularly bad offense, such as vehicular manslaughter.

Previous versions of the legislation would have required those charged with the fees to appeal individually to the court where the fees were assessed and request that the judge’s order be vacated. The new version is much less labor-intensive.

“All you have to be able to do is open your mail,“ said Petersen.

The new repeal legislation also provides a remedy for the 100 or so motorists who have lost their driver’s licenses for failure to pay the fines. The Department of Motor Vehicles will be instructed to reinstate those licenses.

Petersen said the repeal bill applies only to the paid and unpaid fees charged as part of the driver-fee statute and does not forgive charges, fines or license forfeitures connected to any related charges.

Passage of the repeal bill will signify an end to a brief but embarrassing chapter in Virginia legislative history.

The statute was enacted, in part, to generate revenue to help fill an anticipated gap in the state’s transportation budget. Almost immediately, however, the law, sponsored by Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, drew criticism from all quarters. The fees did not apply to out-of-state drivers, and officials said the law would fail to generate the $65 million in annual revenue originally anticipated.

In the opening days of the legislative session, lawmakers were apologizing to voters and filing bills to repeal the statute.

The proposals coalesced in Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. R. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania and Del. Timothy D. Hugo, R-Fairfax.

“It was a big mistake,“ said Petersen, who was not in the Senate when the Assembly passed the legislation last year. “It was a bad law.“
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or .