One Nassau County legislator is well traveled, you could say, on a bill that would impose a new fee on motorists. She has voted against it, voted for it, abstained on it, and, most recently, voted for it. And she intends to vote for it again.
Legis. Denise Ford (R-Long Beach) provided a key affirmative vote in the legislature on April 28, allowing committee approval of a bill that would impose a $15 fee on motorists who are ticketed for certain violations that they later correct.
This was the second time around for the bill, which would raise more than $1 million annually by imposing a processing fee on motorists cited for such infractions as driving without an insurance card, but later proving that the car was insured.
The same bill foundered in the full legislature on April 7 when one of the 10 members of the Democratic majority — Legis. David Mejias of Farmingdale — voted against it. The vote was nine Democrats in favor; eight Republicans and Mejias opposed, and Republican Ford abstaining. The bill died by a vote of 9-1-1 for lack of a majority.
Mejias had voted for the bill in committee in March, so his switch was a bit of a surprise but...
Bill Murphy
...not to some of his fellow Democrats, who saw it as part of their fight with him over pay raises for legislators.
Ford had voted against it in committee, so her abstention was inexplicable, and she did not return telephone calls for comment at that time. Even more curiously, she had raised her hand in favor when the bill was first called at the April 7 meeting, then abstained when there was a roll-call vote a few minutes later.
The Suozzi administration re-introduced the bill and it came up for committee votes on April 28. Mejias once more voted against the bill in committee, but Ford voted in favor, allowing it to pass committee with a one-vote margin.
As she left the dais on the 28th, she explained her voting history to Newsday:
He original vote against the bill in March, “had been incorrectly recorded,” and she had always meant to vote in favor of it. She had voted for it at the full meeting on April 7th, but then “confusion” among all of the legislators led her to abstain on the roll-call vote.
Ford added she intended to vote for the bill at the next full meeting of the legislature on May 14th.
Comments (1)
is Denise Ford a little confused? Seems like her Democratic roots are showing. Raise fees rather than cut costs. Sure, thats the way to do it. Let Suozzi hire a few more hacks.