Handlin: MVC fee increases are backward thinking

The Motor Vehicle Commission’s proposed fee increases are another example of backwards thinking in state government.

According to MVC, the increases are necessary because overhead costs have gone up. Among these overhead costs are legal fees, which are clearly controllable by the Governor and Legislature. For instance, I have championed legislation that would clamp down on all hourly contracts -- including legal contracts -- awarded by the state. I have also fought for tighter oversight and heightened transparency. How many other so-called “costs of doing business” could actually be reduced by ending Trenton “business as usual”?

Last spring, I voted against authorizing the MVC to increase 78 services fees through its rules process and not by seeking legislative approval. So did 20 of my colleagues. But the authorization was granted over our objections. Requiring legislative approval would have guaranteed vigorous public debate about the need for these fee increases.

New Jersey’s top administrators -- in every department -- must seek creative ways to forestall new burdens on the public, not continue to blithely pass them along. The MVC’s fee increases are sure to speed New Jersey residents -- out of their homes and out of the state.

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin
13th Legislative District