A plan to impose a 4% rental car tax in Cook County, Ill., spawned a grassroots lobbying effort by the industry, stemming the proposal’s momentum and ultimately leading to its defeat. Meanwhile, industry representatives in Idaho also rallied to help defeat a state bill seeking to shift rental car liability from secondary to primary.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners on February 24 passed a budget that didn’t include the proposed rental tax. Board President John Stoger originally proposed the tax in Oct. 2003.

In Idaho, representatives from Thrifty, National and Hertz franchises, along with employees of Enterprise, made the trek to Boise Feb. 19 to argue against the bill (HB 621). Their testimony came during a House Business Committee hearing.

"We argued that the bill didn’t benefit the citizens of Idaho, and that it certainly was inappropriate for individuals who caused accidents with our cars to not be held responsible," said Preston Wilbourne, assistant city manager with Midwest Car Corp., a National Car Rental licensee. "We also pointed out that with this bill the cost of renting a car in Idaho would go up. Apparently, the committee members heard us. They tabled the bill and the bill was killed for Idaho’s legislative session for this year."

Also among those testifying was Steve Jones, vice president of car rental operations for Overland West, the largest Hertz franchise in the U.S. Jones is president of the Utah-Idaho Car Rental Association. David Purinton, president of PurCo Fleet Services, was also instrumental in organizing opposition to the bill.

The industry is also battling proposals for a 6% stadium tax in Dallas, a $5-per-transaction tax in Maryland (HB 710) and a 2% tax increase in Virginia (SB 30).

The May/June issue of Auto Rental News will resume a series on vicarious liability, focusing on current reform efforts at the federal and state levels.