More Retribution Last Thing We Need Get Over It It’S Time For Healing, Not Recrimination.

Should Washington state let car tax cheaters off the hook?

Nobody likes a lawbreaker. And it rankles us law-abiding citizens when someone gets away with breaking the law. That’s one reason why some well-meaning Washington citizens oppose the amnesty offered to people who’ve registered their vehicles out of state illegally.

But let’s be realistic. What’s important now is to have every Washington resident pay the $30 license tab fee. The revenue - although a small percentage compared to the old excise tax - still is important. So, too, is the chance we give otherwise law-abiding citizens to trade in their Idaho, Oregon or Alaska plates. (Your neighbors know who you are.)

Without amnesty, thousands of people undoubtedly would keep skulking around with illegal plates, paying fees to another state.

Washington isn’t likely to chase individual license plate renegades now that the revenue at stake is so much less. Why waste the time and money? We’d need a bureaucracy just to figure out how to prosecute under the new law. It’s a nightmare scenario for regulators who are trying to tighten their belts.

It’s understandable why some people don’t want to grant amnesty. In general, when you disagree with a law, you don’t disregard it, you try to change it. And that’s exactly what happened: those who hated - but paid - the motor vehicle excise tax put Initiative 695 on the ballot. The initiative passed. The tax is gone. There’s dancing in the streets.

But hold the music. Public officials have to cut spending due to the loss of revenue from the old license tax. Some seem to be cutting services in the most punitive possible manner. What does this have to do with the opposition to license plate amnesty? It’s the same punitive attitude. We don’t need more fighting, we need healing.

To quote Gerald Ford about another famous pardon: “During this long period of delay and potential litigation, ugly passions would again be aroused. And our people would again be polarized in their opinions.” He added: “My conscience tells me it is my duty, not merely to proclaim domestic tranquility but to use every means that I have to ensure it.”

What was true then is true today. Fellow Washingtonians, our long national nightmare is over.