Senate Tentatively Votes To End Bad-Driving Fees

Va. Lawmakers Still Fighting Over Penalties Already Assessed

RICHMOND, Jan. 25 -- The Virginia Senate took a major step Friday toward eliminating the unpopular abusive-driving fees but couldn't agree on what to do about the tens of thousands of motorists who might have already started paying them.

In a two-hour debate that was marred by partisan bickering, the Senate tentatively approved a bill to repeal the costly fees. The Senate bill includes an emergency clause so Virginia courts could stop imposing the fees as soon as Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) signs the legislation.

"We need to provide the immediate relief that citizens deserve," Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) said.

The bill, one of more than a half-

dozen introduced in the Senate to scrap the fees, will receive a final vote as early as Monday. It will then have to be reconciled with a similar House bill that also seeks to revoke the fees, although not until July 1.

Before the preliminary vote Friday, Senate Republicans and Democrats engaged in a heated battle over who deserved more credit for the fees' apparent demise, underscoring how quickly the political landscape has changed. The Senate approved the fees a year ago as part of a major transportation spending bill.

The fees, which range from $750 to $3,050 and are payable over three years, are assessed on felony and misdemeanor driving offenses, including driving under the influence and reckless driving.

In August, a month after the fees took effect, Kaine, House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) and Walter A. Stosch (R-Henrico), who was then the Senate majority leader, stood together at a news conference to defend the fees after tens of thousands of voters petitioned against them.

There were more than 100,000 arrests or citations issued for offenses that could trigger a fee between July 1 and Oct. 31, according to the Joint Commission on Transportation Accountability.

Since the fall election, when Democrats picked up four House and four Senate seats, there have been growing calls from Kaine and members of both parties to end the fees. On Tuesday, the House voted 97 to 2 to abolish the fees. Even the original sponsor of the idea, Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax), supported the repeal.

Senate Democrats, who have made the elimination of the fees a top priority, tried to use their new majority to muscle a repeal bill sponsored by Sen. R. Edward Houck (D-Spotsylvania) through the chamber, casting aside similar proposals introduced by Republicans.

On Friday, the 19 Republicans in the Senate fought back.