Here's the vote on the abuser fees independent of the transportation bill:
And here's the vote on the version of HB 3202 which explicitly gives immunity to out of state drivers and illegal immigrants
Now of course, Wittman will blame the out of state exemption on Governor Kaine. The truth, after the jump:
1) Delegate Albo and Rust wrote a bill which was unenforceable. Virginia cannot force out of state drivers to pay our DMV fees. Even attempting to collect these out of state fees would cost more than any resulting income.
2) When the Governor's substitute bill came back with the admission that out of state drivers could not be charged, Delegate Wittman, Rust and Albo lacked the courage to stand up and fight to find a solution.
3) Fines at the courthouse would have impacted out-of-state drivers, but constitutionally, they must go to Virginia's library fund. The irony here is that I'm sure our schools could use the extra funding.
I seriously doubt that the voters of the 1st Congressional District are willing to vote for a candidate who gave immunity to New York City drunk drivers.
Let's get the word out.
The nice thing is, Forgit isn't running against Governor Kaine. He's running against a Delegate who stood idly by while an unfair bill passed.
I'm tired of people settling for terrible pieces of legislation in the name of "compromise." I strongly believe that if people had spoken loudly about the out of state exemption prior to passage of HB 3202, something would have been changed. Need evidence? Many Republicans also oppose the exemption. Something could have been done, but Wittman was silent. That's not the type of leadership we need in Congress.
And I should remind you that Delegate Wittman voted for the abusive driver tax INDEPENDENT of the rest of HB 3202. See the votes above.