House Transportation committee backs $2 million request to replenish electric-vehicle incentive programs

The House Transportation Committee on Thursday voted to include language in its Budget Adjustment Act letter asking the Appropriations Committee to appropriate $2,000,000 from the general fund to sustain three state electric-vehicle incentive programs for the remainder of fiscal year 2025: $1,500,000 for the incentive program for new plug‑in electric vehicles, $250,000 for MileageSmart and $250,000 for Replace Your Ride. The request is contingent on the governor proposing continuation of the programs in fiscal year 2026.

The committee moved the language after debate about program structure, administrative flexibility and short-term funding needs. For the record, David Leonard of the Office of Legislative Council said the committee had not reached full agreement on final wording and that "the letter has to be done today." The committee used a straw poll to include the final language in its response to Appropriations.

Why it matters: committee members said the supplemental appropriation would keep incentives running through the end of the fiscal year and avoid starting programs only to have them cut off. Agency officials and several lawmakers described the amounts as intended to cover roughly two to three months of payouts until the next budget takes effect.

Committee discussion and technical issues

The draft language began as a $2,000,000 placeholder but was revised after members and agency staff discussed program-level details. Representative White cited figures from a letter provided earlier in the week showing different program funding needs: "the PEV incentives, dollars 2,470,000 ... MileageSmart 621,000 and Replace Your Ride 462,000," and members acknowledged that those totals reflected differing calculation methods and timescales.

Agency of Transportation officials urged clarity on how appropriations would be structured. Candice Hompkins, chief financial officer at the Agency of Transportation, said finance "would be amenable" to a single appropriation that covered all EV incentive programs, noting it would be administratively easier if the agency could pool funds while still tracking program activity separately.

Patrick Murphy of the Agency of Transportation advised the committee about statutory constraints from last year’s transportation bill (Act 148). He told the committee that existing language permits the secretary to transfer funds between programs in limited circumstances and warned the panel that changing to a single appropriation could require amending last year’s act. "The secretary can transfer up to 50% of any remaining monies to another incentive program that has less than half a million dollars remaining for distribution," Murphy said, and the committee would need to decide whether to (a) specify a split or (b) recommend a single pool used by the agency based on demand.

Fiscal and policy concerns

Representative Webb asked whether the money would come from general funds; a staff member replied that the programs have been funded with general fund dollars in recent years. Representative McQuarrie raised a fiscal-policy objection, arguing that additional general fund spending risks reducing property tax relief and saying a multi‑year trend of property tax increases was unacceptable to his constituents.

Motion and outcome

Representative Parker moved to include revised language requesting a $2,000,000 supplemental appropriation and to specify program splits; the motion was seconded and the committee conducted a straw poll. The clerk counted seven members in favor; no individual votes were recorded by name in the transcript. The committee chair said, "We're gonna include this language in our letter response to appropriations."

Next steps

Members who want to refine the wording were invited to meet with staff during a scheduled lunch period; the committee will forward the finalized language to the Appropriations Committee as part of its budget adjustment act response.

Sources: Committee debate and agency testimony during the House Transportation Committee meeting (transcript).