Has anyone ever considered how much in the way of law enforcement resources -- officers and money -- are currently diverted to enforcement of our oppressive license tab fee laws? The fact that there is so much evasion should tell the politicians that people think fees are too steep. If licensing fees were more reasonable, there wouldn't be any scofflaws, and scarce law enforcement resources (when have you ever heard a law enforcement agency's leadership say it had enough resources to enforce all the laws?) could be redeployed to deal with violent crime. Last I knew, Washington still had plenty of that. This is yet another reason to support I-695.

By the way, did you know that if your legal residence was in another state, you voted in that state, were employed there etc. etc., but if you used a Washington-based attorney, doctor or accountant, for example, then in the eyes of current Washington law, you can be cited for not having Washington plates. This interesting fact was included in the 8-8-99 edition of the Sunday Spokesman-Review which had a lengthy story of how law enforcement was using the licensing law to go after a retired WSP trooper, thus illustrating my question above. The public, which also pays for the enforcement of this law, would be better served if police and court resources were used to fight real crime.

-- A.C. Johnson (ajohnson@thefuture.net), August 10, 1999

Answers

That's a nice concept..that law-enforcement resources would be freed up to 'fight violent crime'. But no matter what we do, law-enforcement resources will continue to do what the were actually designed to do--increase revenue for the government and protect the government.

I-695 will not cut law enforcement or boost law enforcement.. Read the papers. Law enforcement in this state and in every state is a REVENUE arm of government.. Remember the tobacco company suit?

How about the brave boys in blue protecting our children from the smokers who buy cigarettes in Idaho?

-- maddjak (maddjak@hotmail.com), August 10, 1999.

I heard a report that the state had raised the fine to $10,000 plus jail time for those caught evading licensing. This would appear to be a draconian response to evading a tax that is viewed as unfair and excessive. Can anyone verify these reported penalties?

-- Arthur Rathjen (liberty@coastaccess.com), August 11, 1999.

maddjak:

Traffic law enforcement in Washington is much more interested in revenue generation (the fines I see reported are very high) than public safety, but the last I knew burglars, rapists and armed robbers didn't provide much to the state revenue stream. Washington has its share of gangs, serial killers etc., yet legitimate law enforcement is used to go after license fee scofflaws because many people are voting with their wallets and license their cars in Idaho and Oregon. Thus, our idiotic current law creates a whole new class of "criminals" out of otherwise law-abiding people. This would be eliminated at once with the passage of I-695, and regardless of budgets etc. those police could be assigned to real crime.

Property crimes have low priority just about everywhere in this state. If you report arson, theft and vandalism, they take a report over the phone, file and forget. Cops say they are too busy with other stuff.

Right now, detectives are being used to go after license law scofflaws in some cases. It reminds me of parts of the country where "revenoor" agents were/are used to go after moonshiners.

By the way, I'd bet that traffic law revenue is never taken into account when budgets are developed. My hunch is a lot of it is just government gravy.

About the tobacco sting, not long ago state agents ran a sting of Washington smokers who bought cigs inside the Idaho border, and paid the lower Idaho cig tax. Some people got hefty fines. I guess we should be lucky they don't run border stings when Washington people go to the outlet mall just inside Idaho and pay lower sales tax when they buy shoes and coffee pots. At least the state got a lot of negative pr over the tobacco sting.

The above e-mail refers to practical considerations. Bottom line, the only way you control government and preserve your freedom is to limit the money government can take. Money government extracts from you is money you can't use in your own decision making. Government uses your money to control what you can do. Nobody's asking us to freeze at Valley Forge or face incoming at Khe Sanh, but the great thing Tim Eyman has done is to give us an opportunity to get involved in civics (do they still teach civics in school?), reclaim some personal liberty and fight goverment waste of money extracted from hard-working everyday people. It's a worthwhile fight.

-- A.C. Johnson (ajohnson@thefuture.net), August 11, 1999.

A.C. wrote:

"Washington has its share of gangs, serial killers etc., yet legitimate law enforcement is used to go after license fee scofflaws because many people are voting with their wallets and license their cars in Idaho and Oregon. Thus, our idiotic current law creates a whole new class of "criminals" out of otherwise law-abiding people."

While I can respect your opinion about taxes being too high, saying that cops aren't fighting crime because they're taking care of tab fraud is asinine. I highly doubt that any police officer is being diverted from gang activity or a serial murderer to go after those who have illegal tabs. If you care to provide some evidence of a particular police department that has decided to make this its stated policy, feel free to post it here. I don't think you'll find any, but I'm willing to admit that you could surprise me.

"Property crimes have low priority just about everywhere in this state. If you report arson, theft and vandalism, they take a report over the phone, file and forget. Cops say they are too busy with other stuff."

Your statement about arson is totally untrue. If there's a fire anywhere, the fire department will come, even if it's out before they get there. If it's suspicious, they'll call their investigator. If it is determined to be arson, the cops will send an investigator. This is not a crime that is blown off.

BB

-- BB (bbquax@hotmail.com), August 11, 1999.

To Arthur Rathjen:

If I recall a lengthy story in the 8-8-99 edition of the Spokane Spokesman Review, in addition to assessing you for back license fees plus interest, the state can hit you with the $10,000 fine. I think the story also said the law calls for jail time, but my hunch is that jail is very seldom if ever used.

To BB:

I'm glad law enforcement has a sense of priorities. Mostly, that is the case, but here's a posted example of what you asked for: According to the same 8-8-99 Spokane Spokesman-Review article, a tax-paid DETECTIVE was used to build a case against a retired WSP trooper who was no longer a state resident and who, upon retirement, sold his house, property etc. and licensed his motorhome in Oregon. His retirement plan was to hit the road and see the USA for 2-3 years. However, his big mistake was to cast a vote in the King County stadium issue AFTER he retired and sold his Washington property. This is one thing the state is using against him. According to the story, the investigation, among other things, included having the detective creep through a rural field to photograph the motorhome at a friend's rural home. The case had to be built up over some period of time. Lawsuits are pending in this case.

Regarding the arson. You are correct for the most part about the seriousness with which arson is taken, but not in the only case that affected me. I lived on rural property and had someone cut some small trees on my property and burn them on my property which was clearly marked. I had a very good idea who did it -- I had been the victim of petty theft and vandalism as well. All of these incidents, which were attempts to intimidate me, were reported to the appropriate authorities. Deputies were too busy, and I never received any response back from the fire investigator, even though I called twice and went to two stations. If he did investigate, he didn't follow up with me. All I ever got when I called was voice mail. Even if the agencies had followed up with the alleged perp. to ask what he knew about the incidents, that in and of itself would have been a powerful deterrent to the perp.

-- A.C. Johnson (ajohnson@thefuture.net), August 12, 1999.

The new penalties for registering out of state are quite draconian and passed the legislature unanimously! You can check it out on The Access Washington home page and read it.

What they are doing with the fines is funding a special enforcement unit that will actively pursue people with out of state plates. Next they'll be offering rewards for turning in your neighbor.

It astounds me. They won't jail car thieves, but you'd better not save some money on your plates!!!!!!!!

-- K. Loucks (kaljhsjr@sttl.uswest.net), August 21, 1999.