By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-946027.mp3
LANSING, MI –
A repeal of the state's unpopular Driver Responsibility Fee is back up for discussion at the state Capitol.
AUDIO:
A repeal of the annual assessment on drivers with seven or more points on their license was approved by the House last year, but stalled in the Senate. Most lawmakers agreed the fee is unfair and bad public policy, but struggled to find a way to supplant the estimated $100 million it brings in every year.
Democratic state Senator Bert Johnson says he understands that concern.
"How to supplant money, how to bring money, how to cut money is probably going to be the mantra of this entire Legislature for the first six to eight months," he says.
But Johnson calls the Driver Responsibility Fee "disliked" and "disingenuous" and says lawmakers need to find a way to get rid of it. Lawmakers who approved the law eight years ago say they see now that it was a mistake and did not make the roads safer.