11/25/03 - Lawmakers sympathetic to trucking were unable to pass several bills during a veto session that ended Nov. 20 designed to reverse parts of SB841 – a recently imposed Commercial Distribution Fee and tax on rolling stock exemption.
One of those bills – HB3851 – would have ended the Commercial Distribution Fee after 1 year. Amendments would have kept tax exemptions on truck sales for owners who now pay the fee and end the trucking employee tax credit created by SB841.
The bill was awaiting a preliminary vote in the House as the session ended.
It is likely to be reconsidered when legislators convene in mid-January.

11/19/03 - Illinois lawmakers are working to quickly overturn the unpopular Commercial Distribution Fee, a 36 percent surcharge added to truck registrations in the state.
HB3851 would end the Commercial Distribution Fee after 1 year. The bill, introduced in October, has already picked up 16 co-sponsors and is now before the House Rules Committee.
Lawmakers conducted a procedural maneuver Nov. 18 designed to speed the bill’s appearance in the committee. That maneuver passed on a voice vote. The bill must make it out of committee, move to the House floor, and pass both the House and Senate before the end of the veto session Nov. 20.
The Commercial Distribution Fee was created earlier this year as part of SB841, which was signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich June 20.

10/29/03 - As the General Assembly prepared for its veto session in November, lawmakers sympathetic to trucking introduced several bills designed to reverse parts of SB841 – a recently imposed Commercial Distribution Fee and tax on rolling stock.
One of those bills is HB3851, introduced by Rep. William Black, R-Danville. It would end the Commercial Distribution Fee after 1 year.
Truckers would still have to pay the fee eventually in order to keep their tags valid, and IRP-plated truckers would still have to pay it to get their tags next year.
The bill, introduced Oct. 15, has already picked up 16 co-sponsors and is now before the House Rules Committee. For bill status, call (217) 782-3944.