Despite a number of efforts, Illinois lawmakers were not able to overturn a 36 percent surcharge on registration fees before they adjourned for the year Nov. 20.

SB841, signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich June 20, added a 36 percent surcharge - called the Commercial Distribution Fee - onto the state's truck registration fees. It also changed the rolling stock exemption.

The state imposed the new fee immediately on intrastate truckers, whose plates were due the same day the bill became effective, July 1. For trucks that run all of their miles in the state, SB841 increased last year’s registration fee of $2,790 by $1,005 to a new total of $3,795. Interstate trucks pay a portion of the fee based on the percentage of their total miles that they run in Illinois.

Six bills that would have overturned part or all of SB841 were introduced as the General Assembly entered its veto session in November. When the session ended Nov. 20, none of the six had passed both the House and Senate, required to move on to the governor for his signature. A spokeswoman for the General Assembly said all of the bills would return to the House and Senate Rules Committees for consideration in mid-January.

Those bills are:

• HB852, which would return the original rolling stock exemption by 2006, end the trucking employee tax credit by 2007 and phase out the Commercial Distribution Fee by 2006. The bill passed the Senate 55-0 Nov. 20 and was headed to the House as the session ended;
• HB3851, which would end the Commercial Distribution Fee after 1 year. Amendments would keep 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;
• HB3860, which would give any trucker who paid the Commercial Distribution Fee in fiscal 2004 a refund. The was in the House Rules Committee as the session ended;
• SB2095, which would restore the rolling stock exemption as it was before July 1; end the $50 per trucking employee tax credit after 2007; and reduce the Commercial Distribution Fee each year, eliminating it by July 1, 2006. The bill was in the Senate Rules Committee at the end of the session;
• HB3854, which would allow truckers to pay the Commercial Distribution Fee in six monthly installments each year. The bill was before the House Rules Committee as the session ended; and
• SB2101, which would restore the rolling stock exemption as it existed previously. The bill was in the Senate Rules Committee at the end of the session Nov. 20.

SB841 and the changes it made in the fees paid by truckers have generated considerable reaction in the transportation industry. More than 200 big rigs joined a protest at the state Capitol Nov. 18. Earlier, hundreds of truckers took part in impassioned meetings in the Chicago area, where they expressed their concerns to state and local officials.

In addition, a number of truckers and trucking companies have told Land Line and other media outlets that they plan to leave Illinois if the fee is not overturned. Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, R-Des Plaines, told the Mount Prospect Times that the number of trucking companies registered in Illinois is declining, while neighboring Indiana has seen its truck registrations climb from 88,290 to 116,326 in one year.

"My office has been flooded with calls from upset truck owners regarding the fees," Mulligan told the newspaper. "Most run small operations and simply cannot afford to pay the hefty new fees."