Kaine Angling to Keep DMV Fee

$1 Added for Jamestown Would Bolster Other Initiatives

RICHMOND, Dec. 12 -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Wednesday that he wants to keep the $1 fee that was added to the cost of vehicle registration primarily to help pay for the Jamestown 400th commemoration even though the celebration is over.

In the past week, several prominent Republicans, including Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R), have said that the fee should be eliminated since Virginians were told it would end with the Jamestown festivities.

But Kaine (D) said he wants to keep the fee to help pay for new tourism initiatives and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

"It is a proposal I will make to the legislature," said Kaine, who said he will reveal more details when he unveils his budget Monday.

Kaine's proposal, which requires approval by the General Assembly in January, has become fodder for anti-tax activists and other conservatives who say that the fee is a prime example of government becoming addicted to certain revenues.

"The fee passed specifically for this commemoration has no justification for continuation,'' said McDonnell, a likely candidate for governor in 2009. "This fee must be allowed to sunset as originally scheduled, in order to maintain the public trust."

McDonnell said he spoke to House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) this week to encourage him and other lawmakers to let the fee expire. But incoming Senate Minority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City) said the fee should be continued.

In 2003, the General Assembly raised the cost of vehicle registration by $1 to collect an additional $6 million a year.

About $4 million was spent on an 18-month series of events marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of America's first permanent English settlement.

The remainder was divided between the Department of Motor Vehicles for driver's license security and the Virginia Land Conservation Fund.

Kaine, who is facing a $600 million budget shortfall, said Tuesday that he will propose that the fee "not go away," even though the Jamestown celebration is over.

"It should continue in a way that would fund a combination of tourism and also expenses at the DMVs," said Kaine.

Last week, a conservative radio host in Richmond launched an online petition to have the fee repealed. About 850 people have signed it.

The issue could become especially heated because registration fees increased this year as part of the recently approved transportation plan, which Kaine supported to raise money for highway and rail projects.

As of July 1, it costs $39.50 annually to register a passenger vehicle, a $10 increase over 2006.

The transportation plan also included controversial fees on bad drivers. Some lawmakers are trying to get the abusive-driving fees repealed.