Senator Volker Launches Online Petition to Fight New License Plate Requirement

(Depew, NY) Senator Dale M. Volker (R-C-I-, Depew)  has started on online petition campaign to stop a new state mandate that will require every New Yorker to purchase a new license plate in April whether they need one or not, at a cost of $25 per vehicle.  The new plate requirement was included in the 2009-10 state budget enacted by Governor Paterson and Democrats in the state Legislature.

“Western New Yorkers are fed up with new taxes and are angry about being forced to pay $25 to replace a perfectly good license plate,” Senator Dale M. Volker said.  “The online petition on my web site will give people an opportunity to voice their opposition to this absurd plan. I will take the petition results back to Albany and urge the Governor and the Democrats to stop the license plate plan immediately.”

People can sign on to Senator  Volker’s petition drive against the new license plate plan by going to www.volker.nysenate.gov.

Senator Volker, who opposed the new requirement and voted against the state budget, said, “Driving in western New York is a necessity, not a luxury. This new tax will hit western New Yorkers who drive harsher than those living in metropolitan New York City who use mass transit that is subsidized by the residents of upstate/western New York.  The new license plate requirement is a prime example of how the Democrats came up with new tax schemes to reach even deeper into the pockets of every taxpayer to fuel their endless appetite for more government spending.”

The plan requires motorists to purchase new license plates over a two year period beginning April 1, 2010, as their registration comes due.  New plates will cost each vehicle owner an extra $25 and generate a total of $130 million in revenue for the state. The new plates are in addition to the increase in driver’s license and motor vehicle fees that took effect September 1, 2009.

The Democrats’ budget increased driver’s licenses and registration fees by 25 percent, creating an additional cost to New York drivers projected to be almost $152 million over the next two years.  They increased registration fees for passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, trailers, taxis, busses, motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, construction vehicles, motorboats and custom vehicles.

“At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet and businesses are forced to cut jobs or leave the state, Governor Paterson and legislative Democrats enacted a budget with $8.5 billion in new taxes and fees, including the license plate scheme, to pay for billions of dollars in new spending,” Senator Volker.  “The result of this spending binge is a multi-billion deficit.  The taxes and spending have to stop and I hope people will sign on to my petition drive to let Albany know that enough is enough.”

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