Juneau -- The Alaska Senate has passed House Bill 73, sponsored by the House Transportation Committee. HB 73 amends a law passed during the 20th Alaska Legislature which raised registration fees for commercial vehicles and eliminated the requirement for annual registration of commercial trailers.

"The law the Legislature passed last year is a good law, but, unfortunately, it had the unanticipated side-effect that some municipalities lost tax revenues by eliminating trailer registrations," said Representative Beverly Masek (R-Willow), Chair of the House Transportation Committee. "Representatives of municipalities, the trucking industry, and the Division of Motor Vehicles have met over the interim and have reached certain agreements."

HB 73 meets those agreements and makes the following changes:

• makes permanent the new registration fees for commercial vehicles;
• raises the municipal tax schedule $75 per year on trucks over 12,000 pounds to restore lost revenue to affected municipalities; and
• tightens the location language so that trucks are registered for where they are normally used.

HB 73 passed Wednesday on a 12-8 vote. On Thursday, the Senate voted 15-5 to make HB 73 effective immediately.