(The Center Square) – Senate lawmakers advanced a proposal Thursday that would allow police to cite parked cars for expired tabs after several attempts from voters to cap annual registration fees at $30.
According to a June 2025 CARFAX report, Washington ranked eighth among states with the most expired vehicle registrations at the start of 2025. Nearly 600,000 motor vehicles being driving around have expired car tabs.
A bipartisan proposal, Senate Bill 6176, would expand state laws dictating when police officers can cite vehicles for expired tabs. Enforcement is currently limited to when a driver is operating the vehicle on public highways. SB 6176 would allow officers to issue citations when a vehicle is parked on the street.
The Senate Transportation Committee advanced the proposal on Thursday, with 12 lawmakers voting in support, two against, and four voting without recommendation, essentially a neutral vote.
There was no discussion on the bill before they advanced it out of the Senate Transportation Committee.
“There are millions of dollars out there that are not being collected, which is not fair to everyone else that pays these, these car tabs,” Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, said during a public hearing last week.
King proposed SB 6176 with Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, to hold the 600,000 drivers with expired tabs to the same standard as millions of other people following the law. Every Republican on the committee voted against SB 6176 or without recommendation, except Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn.
SB 6176 would allow officers to cite for expired tabs on public rights-of-way and publicly owned property.
The tickets are issued to the registered owner of the vehicle, but they wouldn’t affect their driving record. Penalties include a $150 fine, which increases to $243 if the tabs are expired for more than two months.
Some vehicles can now cost taxpayers hundreds of dollars or more than $1,000 to register for tabs.
“Three times the voters said we don’t want to pay any more than $30,” anti-tax activist Tim Eyman, who led all three car tab initiatives and others over the last few decades, said during a public hearing last week. “And three times they were told they were too confused by a measure to give it to them.”
Fortunato told The Center Square that he voted to advance the bill so Democrats would be more willing to accept his amendments later. He said the proposal is too harsh in some respects, and that he isn’t sure how he will vote if it comes to the Senate floor for another vote in the coming days or weeks.
Currently, if someone is caught driving a car before they even register it in the first place, they could face a $1,136 fine. If they register it, but then fail to do so the next year, it’s a $150 fine, which rises to $242 if the car tabs are expired for more than two months. King amended his bill to align with those amounts.
He appeared on a segment of conservative talk-show host Ari Hoffman’s podcast on Monday, arguing that while voters have repeatedly attempted to cap annual car fees, the law is the law. He said it’s not fair to other Washingtonians who follow the law, regardless of how they feel about the initiatives.
According to the state’s fiscal note, the amount of money these tickets could raise is “indeterminate.”
“If this bill passes, I will tell the men and women of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office to not enforce it,” Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank posted to X. “The people spoke. It’s time for the legislature to listen.”
