After a fairly lengthy hearing, during which committee members variously queried ITD officials and bill sponsors, the House Transportation Committee has voted to send HB 334 to the full House for a vote. The measure would raise a series of Department of Motor Vehicle fees to the tune of $13.1 million, some of which haven't been raised in decades; it's sponsored by House Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly. "This has been good for the committee to get a thorough idea of what the costs are, and see the evidence in front of them for justification," said committee Chairwoman JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, "which will help a lot when we start getting all the nasty telephone calls when we go home." Near-identical language was in a Senate amendment to HB 96, which the House earlier voted overwhelmingly to kill, with some members saying their biggest problem was that the fee increase originated in the Senate. The committee's vote was unanimous.

The other bill that had been on the committee's agenda, Rep. Frank Henderson's bill on registration fee increases, was pulled from the agenda without explanation.

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