Lawmakers to vote on return of stickers

The state House and Senate are expected to vote on proposed legislation to bring back vehicle registration stickers to help raise money in the wake of PennDOT’s financial crisis, lawmakers said.

The Senate Transportation Committee voted 11-2 in favor of the stickers, and the House Transportation Committee voted 16-9 in favor of them.

The House and Senate bills, approved by their respective committees in March, are expected to be put up for a vote in each chamber. Dates have not yet been set.

PennDOT opposes the return of the stickers.

The bills are the same, and whichever chamber acts on its bill first will send its version to the other chamber for approval.

The final version would require the signature of Gov. Tom Wolf to become law.

The proposed legislation presented by Sen. Kim Ward, a Republican representing part of Westmoreland County, mirrors a House bill introduced by Rep. Barry Jozwiak, a Bern Township Republican.

PennDOT stopped issuing registration stickers in 2017. Lawmakers who support bringing them back say that eliminating them did not save money as promised.

In the meantime, PennDOT is facing an $8 billion deficit this year on funding bridge and road projects.

“The commonwealth was too quick to eliminate registration stickers, and it is in the best interest to bring them back,” Ward wrote in a memorandum to the Senate committee. “I hope you will join me in this endeavor to better ensure safety on our roadways.”

The Senate committee vote was taken without debate.

Jozwiak noted in a memorandum to the House committee that PennDOT lost about $51 million in the last three years due to motorists failing to register.

Jozwiak, a former state trooper and Berks County sheriff, said the primary benefit of the stickers is to provide law enforcement with a tool to discover other illegal activity while generating additional funding to help with PennDOT’s fiscal crisis.

Diego M. Sandino, PennDOT spokesman, said the legislation is based on false assertions about lost revenues.

He said the department has raised $11.7 million in the three years by eliminating the stickers, resulting in savings.

“It’s disappointing that PennDOT’s efforts to modernize its process and enhance the customer experience are being met with opposition, especially since the basis for this legislation is the inaccurate belief that PennDOT has lost revenue and Pennsylvanians are not properly registering their vehicles,” Sandino said.