----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Kruger" <kdruger_at_pacifier.com> > Michael, in the end, it is becoming more and more difficult to get the > average voter to make a connection between fees he/she pays and benefits > received. Dave: The now dead proposal in Maine was a means for the Governor to bolster a bloated budget. The Money from Kayak and Canoe registration fees was going in to the general fund. I would not have gone to any canoe/kayak, nature or waterway specific item. Of particular concern was that it was snuck in with no public input at all. From the moment we heard about it on Tuesday AM to the vote in the state senate on Thursday was all we constituents had to react to the bill. Hardly time enough. It was essentially a way to sell the state's resources to fund other items in the budget. Most of us already pay fees when we paddle in the form of daily or seasonal passes to parks and boat ramp facilities even though more often than not we wind up climbing over the rocks with our gear when power boaters hog the ramp. I am not opposed to paying fees. I oppose the imposition of such fees and the defacing of my homebuilt kayaks so support what a lot of us see as wastefull spending. Particularly when I do without what I can not afford. > Some who have contributed here on Paddlewise to the > debate about the (now defunct) Maine registration bill seem to have > over-reacted to the __concept__ of a registration fee instead of focusing on > the practicalities of making sure the money gets spent for paddlers' needs. personally I don't see it as an over reaction, I was the one who posted the news about the issue on the board initially. I find it amazing we were able to raise public awareness on such short notice and get our reps and senators to realize the error in the concept of imposing a kayak tax of this sort. Particularly offensive when our taxes in this state are the second highest in the nation. kind regards: Michael *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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