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Despite broad bipartisan support for measures to reduce the tax Illinois levies on trailers, legislation has failed to advance.
State Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond, has House Bill 636. There are 62 co-sponsors on the bill, more than enough to pass the House with a simple majority of bipartisan lawmakers.
Bourne said there are nine identical bills from Republicans and Democrats that decrease the trailer fee that was increased in the governor’s capital bill enacted in 2019.
“I don’t need my bill to be the one to pass, but this is a terrible, terrible thing that we are not able to repeal this huge increase that went from $18 for the Boy Scouts to pull a parade float to $118,” Bourne said Wednesday.
When the House Rules were being crafted, Bourne said she asked if there could be a rule to allow votes on a bill if there are enough cosponsors to pass.
“The answer was ‘no,’ and I was kind of laughed at,” Bourne said. “They said ‘that doesn’t happen, we don’t get the majority of the body cosponsoring a bill a not get a vote,’ but it is happening right now.”
State Rep. Mike Zalewski, who is the chairman of the House Revenue and Finance Committee, said despite having more than enough cosponsors to pass the measure in the House, he won’t let it out of committee.
“Until I’m provided with a funding alternative, I’m not going to willy nilly send every single bill to the floor,” said Zalewski, D-Riverside.
The following day on the House floor, state Rep. Tim Butler said the fee increase wasn’t negotiated as part of the governor’s capital plan. Some Republicans said they were told it was a drafting error, but Butler said it’s led to as many as 150,000 fewer trailer plate renewals and needs to be addressed because people can’t afford it.
“Because it is something that we’ve talked about, and talked about, and talked about, and it drives the public nuts when they contact our offices and nothing ever gets done on something that would be easy to fix,” Butler said.
State Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, followed Butler’s comments Thursday reiterating there are several bills from Republicans and Democrats to drop the fee. He supports the push.
“Sometimes we have to take a stand and this is one and we need to call this bill and call this bill this session, thank you very much,” Moylan said.
Lawmakers are set to return to Springfield on Tuesday.