State Watch – June 2021

We know you don’t have time to keep up with all of the bills being considered that affect your trucking business. That’s why your Association keeps a close watch on legislative action in statehouses near you. On the following pages you will find a roundup of some significant actions from around the country. For a complete rundown of state legislation, visit LandLine.Media’s Daily News By State page.

Alabama

An Alabama Senate bill would require any fuel tax, license tax, or other related taxes collected by a county or municipality to be used solely for road and bridge construction and maintenance.

SB281 would require counties and municipalities now using affected revenues for purposes other than road and bridge work to instead use “alternative sources” of funding.

A five-year exception would be applied for local governments using such revenue for bond or debt obligations.

Municipalities would be required to get voter approval to use tax revenues for purposes other than roads and bridges. Counties already are required to get voter approval.

The Senate has approved a bill to allow law enforcement to use license plate readers, or license plate scanners, on highways. The devices could be used for the investigation of a criminal offense.

State law does not prohibit the use of license plate readers by law enforcement agencies in the state.

SB2 would allow law enforcement agencies throughout the state to exchange or share captured license plate data. The bill also would establish procedures for data exchanges or sharing.

Captured data would be required to be destroyed within 30 months of collection.

Idaho

Idaho lawmakers could soon approve a bill to more than quadruple revenue available for a transportation program to benefit road work.

A 2017 law authorized the state to shift a portion of sales tax revenue from the general fund to a transportation program. Specifically, 1% of the state’s sales tax revenue is deposited into the program intended to expand state highways. The sales tax revenue stems from the state’s cigarette tax.

H362 would instead shift 4.5% of the tax revenue into the transportation program. Essentially, the change would provide an $84 million boost for the program in the first year.

Michigan

A Michigan Senate bill would benefit local road work throughout the state. Michigan law now requires that all motor fuel taxes collected at the pump be sent to the state for distribution among localities. SB32 would require all fuel taxes collected to stay in the county where the fuel was purchased by motorists and truck drivers.

Oklahoma

Changes could soon be on the way for how the state of Oklahoma handles truck size and weight rules.

One bill nearing passage at the statehouse would shift responsibility for enforcing truck regulations in the state.

SB617 would transfer truck enforcement oversight from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to be carried out by the Department of Public Safety.

Enforcement duties and responsibilities for the Department of Public Safety would cover the International Registration Plan, International Fuel Tax Agreement, the Unified Carrier Registration program, and the administration of trip permits, temporary fuel permits and harvest permits.

A companion to SB617 would establish and adjust the bond schedule for overweight vehicles.

SB691 would set a $200 fine for vehicles overweight by 750 to 3,000 pounds. A fine of $250 would be handed out for vehicles overweight by 3,001 to 5,000 pounds. A $450 fine would be set for vehicles overweight by 5,001 to 7,000 pounds. And a fine of $650 would be applied for overweight loads of 7,001 to 10,000 pounds.

Any vehicle overweight by more than 10,000 pounds would be assessed a fine of 10 cents per pound in excess of the weight limit.

Pennsylvania

The House Transportation Committee has voted unanimously to advance a bill to allow local police officers to use radar to nab speeders.

Currently, local police are limited to electronic tools such as VASCAR, which determines a vehicle’s speed by measuring the time it takes to move between two points.

HB606 includes a requirement for municipalities to first pass an ordinance allowing the use of radar. Drivers would be ticketed only if the speed recorded is at least 10 miles over the posted speed limit.

Additionally, revenue collected from speeding tickets could not exceed 1% of a municipality’s annual budget. Any revenue raised exceeding the cap would go to the state’s motor license fund.

One bill halfway through the statehouse addresses concerns about snow and ice removal from atop cars and trucks.

State law allows police to ticket car and truck drivers between $200 and $1,000 if snow or ice falls from a vehicle and causes serious injury or death.

SB114 would revise the state’s rule on the removal of wintry precipitation.

Specifically, law enforcement would be authorized to issue tickets solely for failure to clear vehicles of snow and ice. In addition to trucks, mass transit vehicles, buses and school buses would be covered by the rule.

Offenders would face a maximum fine of $1,500 if the wintry precipitation causes serious injury or death. The bill includes an additional protection allowing police to ticket drivers $50 for failure to clear snow or ice before they take to the roads.

Utah

Gov. Spencer Cox has signed into law a bill to use a chunk of a $1.5 billion surplus in the state’s budget to help complete transportation work. Specifically, about $1.1 billion will be applied for road, transit and other transportation-related projects.

Previously HB433, the new law appropriates $870 million in one-time money for transportation work. Instead of being sent to the state’s general fund, the money will go to the Department of Transportation for the 2022 fiscal year.

The bulk of the money – $705 million – will be applied for state highway projects specified in the bill. Another $28 million will be used for local road work. LL