(Des Moines)– A bill that would increase boat registration fees in Iowa sailed through the House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday.
State Representative Mike May of Spirit Lake is sponsoring the bill in the House. He says it passed through the Natural Resources Committee on a vote of 18 to three and received wide bi-partisan support.
May cautions the bill still has a lot of hurdles to clear before it can land on the Governor’s desk. For one thing, it still needs to pass muster with the House Ways and Means Committee since it’s a fee schedule increase.
A boat registration bill has also been introduced in the Senate, but May believes it’s different from the House version. If that’s the case, he says a conference committee would have to work out the differences.
Boat fees in Iowa haven’t been raised in more than 20 years.
Revenue from the increase would be used to purchase additional patrol boats and increase law enforcement on waterways…among other things.
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