Republican Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries is the bill's author.  He told the Assembly Natural Resources Committee that besides being bad policy, the fee won't survive a court challenge.

Jeffries: "CalFire and the Board of Equalization are literally forced to spend millions of dollars to implement a fee that is at best legally flawed."

Most Democrats on the committee agree the fee is flawed - but warn the repeal attempt won't succeed without a replacement funding source.  The lone no vote came from Democrat Roger Dickinson:

Dickinson: "It is not an answer simply to get rid of something without having something else to put in its place which addresses the issue."

The bill next moves to another committee - though the fee could also come up during the budget process.