House Majority Leader statement on SB 157

CONCORD – House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt (R-Salem) today offered the following statement in response to the House passing Senate Bill 157 by a vote of 264 to 110,  eliminating the rulemaking authority of the commissioner of agriculture, markets and foods to set fees for licensing weighing devices.

“Two years ago, Democrats removed the ability of service technicians to place state “seals” on the equipment that they calibrated and maintained—this change required two service calls per vendor and added a delay to the process. As a result, additional registration fees were imposed to cover the cost of the four inspectors that were added to the staff—these fee increases were passed on to the vendors and through them to the consumers.  With the passage of this bill, licensing fees for the first time will be in state statute and not at the whip of a state commissioner.”