Alaska State Legislature
News for the Office of Senator John Torgerson

State Capitol, Room 514
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
Fax: 907/465-4779
http://www.akrepublicans.org/pastlegs/Torgerso.htm

Torgerson Amends Vehicle Registration Bill

For Immediate Release: April 28, 1998 Contact: Senator John Torgerson at (907) 465-2828.

Juneau – Senator John Torgerson, Kasilof Republican, provided amendments for the Senate Rules Committee on HB 404 - an act relating to registration of commercial vehicles. The amendments clarify current statute regarding pick-up trucks and vans.

Problems with current statutes came to light in January, when the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation, announced it's intention to require vehicles which towed a guide boat be registered as a commercial vehicle. They stated that:

"State law requires that if you use a vehicle to tow your guide boat, whether you transport clients or not, that you register your vehicle as a commercial vehicle with the Division of Motor Vehicles. Any trailers used for a guide boat also need to be registered as a commercial trailer."

The amendment authored by Torgerson clarifies the existing statute so that a vehicle is considered commercial when the owner registers it in the name of a company or business, not just because it hauls a trailer and a boat.

"The current statute hurts a lot of people, not just the guides," said Torgerson. "Right now, someone who occassionally uses their vehicle to transport AMWAY products is in violation and subject to penalty unless they register as a commercial vehicle, which of course costs a lot of money."

Another problem with commercial vehicle registration deals with the weight of a vehicle. Currently, a pick-up or van which exceeds 6,000 pounds is required to pay the higher commercial vehicle rate, regardless of the use of the vehicle.

"Clearly, we don't want to make families pay a higher commercial fee for the pick-ups and vans which are over the 6,000 pound limit," said Torgerson. "Most dualies are over 6,000 pounds, but that doesn't automatically mean they are used commercially; a lot of people use them to drive the kids to school - that's not a commercial use!"

Torgerson's amendment made the effective date of the changes immediate.

The bill will be on the Senate floor on Tuesday, April 28.

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