But the livid House sponsor - powerful Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, a fellow Democrat - vowed to revive the fee repeal as part of the upcoming budget talks. Both House and Senate budget chairwomen and Gov. Chris Gregoire have endorsed the idea of ending the unpopular three-year-old park fee.

Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, adjourned the final scheduled meeting of the Senate Natural Resources, Ocean and Recreation Committee without acting on Kessler's repeal bill.

Kessler's measure, which she calls her personal top priority of the session, sailed through the House 94-2 earlier this month. She was steaming after getting word that Jacobsen had blocked the bill. He promised to allow a vote, she said.

"He lied to me. He totally lied," she said in an interview.

"I have total support for this bill and Jacobsen killed it. I'm disappointed, but there's `more than one way to skin a cat."'

The Hoquiam lawmaker, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, said she probably will request a budget proviso that bans state parks from collecting a day-use fee for the next year. The budget will have about $3 million in general tax money to replace the lost revenue. Lawmakers then would have to revisit the issue next year and find a permanent revenue source for park support, she said.

Another route she didn't mention is that her bill can be declared necessary to implement the budget and could be pulled directly to the Senate floor from committee.

Jacobsen denied that he lied to Kessler.

"She never asked me to pass the bill. She said she wanted it and I nodded. Nodded as in `I understand.' I never said I would have a vote."

He said he opposes repeal for a variety of reasons, but assumes Kessler will be able to circumvent his action.

"I don't think it was good public policy," he said in an interview Thursday night. "People say we'll find this money next year (to replace the lost revenue), but natural resources agencies have steadily lost General Fund support.

"I just tried to get real."

Washington was the last state in the West to adopt a park day-use parking fee, he noted.

"It's not unreasonable" and is a good way to have the millions of day-use visitors pay some of the true cost, Jacobsen said.

"Since the fees came in, vandalism is down, graffiti is down and families feel better about the parks," he said. "The rangers like it."

If the Legislature overturns his decision, the onus is on his colleagues to follow through on their promise to find proper revenue for parks, he said repeatedly.

The fees were instituted with the Legislature's blessing in 2003 by the state Parks and Recreation Commission. Washington joined 37 other states, including all those in the West, in charging such fees.

During the first two years, the money was used to whittle away a $350 million maintenance backlog. In the current budget, it helps finance basic operations at 120 state parks.

The fee has proven unpopular, with attendance off by more than 7 million since it was introduced.

Most of the 38 million annual visits are from day-use patrons. Campers and those who use boat launches already pay a daily fee.

---

The repeal bill is House Bill 2416.