To be blunt, the revised fee is likely in line with the application/renewal fee for a US Ham's drivers license, both in terms of fee and term. For example, here in Texas, a drivers license renewal is $33 and the renewal lasts 8 years. It too is a highly-automated, hands-off process. (Taking the the test to get the license is a separate process in both cases.)
The only hope of eliminating the proposed fee was the federal policy that dictates the government can not collect a fee if the cost of collecting the fee exceeds the cost of providing the service. As noted in the excerpts, as staff are dedicated to perform related tasks there clearly is a cost involved.
This proposed fee will raise about $2.6M/year (750,000 licenses, 1/10th will renew each year, 75,000 x $33 = $2.6M), how many government workers (AND the requisite IT infrastructure, office space, benefits, pension, etc.) do you imagine $2.6 million funds? My guess is about a half-dozen workers, all-in.
I apologize to international readers for discussing this local issue on a global forum.
Ken, N2VIP
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On Dec 31, 2020, at 01:06, Josh VanRiet via groups.io <jsvanriet@...> wrote:
1. As a veteran I can tell, based on years of experience seeing and hearing it in the military, that this document is completely filled with "cover your own ass" speak and "pass the buck back up the chain of command". They are clearly calling out Congress for putting them in this position.
