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Senate Transportation considers clarifying that disabled veterans are exempt from vehicle emissions and EV infrastructure fees
Summary
On Feb. 11 the Senate Transportation Committee discussed language to clarify that certain disabled veterans who received VA assistance to modify or purchase vehicles are exempt from the $2 annual emissions fee and from the new EV infrastructure fee; staff will draft clarified language and send it to the commissioner for reaction.
On Feb. 11 the Senate Transportation Committee resumed testimony on a miscellaneous DMV bill and heard from Robert Burke, director of Veterans Affairs for the State of Vermont, and committee staff about clarifying whether disabled veterans who receive VA assistance for vehicle purchases or significant modifications are exempt from small statutory vehicle fees.
The clarification under discussion would specify that “no fees shall be charged” to qualifying veterans for vehicle registration, explicitly including the $2 annual emissions fee required under 3 VSA 28 22(m)(1) and the electric-vehicle infrastructure fee created in 23 VSA 3 61. "This is clarifying that that $2 annual emissions fee ... is also included in that annual exemption of the fees," a committee drafter said during the hearing.
The change would fold the emissions and EV infrastructure fees into the existing exemption language for veterans who receive VA assistance for vehicle purchases or significant modifications. Committee members noted that the $2 emissions fee is typically tacked onto the registration fee, and that the statute already exempts such vehicles from registration fees under Title 23. One senator cited the current registration schedule, noting the annual registration fee is $89 and the biannual fee $163, and that the EV infrastructure fee took effect this past January.
Robert Burke said he supported the clarification. "My name is Robert Burke. I am the Director of Veterans Affairs of State of Vermont," he told the committee, and he confirmed the exemption targets veterans with significant disability-related vehicle modifications certified by VA Form 21-4502. Burke and committee members emphasized the exemption is for veterans who received VA assistance tied to disability, not for general financial need.
Committee members asked whether the exemption language should use "honorably discharged" or the broader phrase used on veteran license-plate provisions, "other than dishonorable." A committee drafter said the plate language uses "other than dishonorable" and recommended matching that phrasing to avoid unintended disqualifications. The drafter and Burke agreed that the change was unlikely to exclude veterans who otherwise qualify for VA benefits because severe training injuries typically produce medical discharges that preserve benefit eligibility.
Members also asked how many vehicles would qualify for the exemption. Burke said he did not know and that DMV had posed the same question; the federal VA form does not flow through the state's records, and Burke said he was unsure whether DMV could sort that information from its database.
Rather than making immediate statutory language changes on the floor, committee staff agreed to add explicit references to the emissions fee (3 VSA 28 22(m)(1)) and to the EV infrastructure fee (23 VSA 3 61) in the draft. The drafter said they would send the revised language to the commissioner for reaction; the committee chair and other members indicated they would also consider sending it collectively if preferred. No formal vote was taken.
The committee moved on to the next scheduled testimony after Burke and staff concluded their remarks; staff will return with the revised draft and any response from the commissioner.
