Committee on Transportation agrees to try $70 electric-hybrid fee and consolidate two House bills

At a meeting of the Committee on Transportation, members agreed informally to try setting the electric-hybrid vehicle fee at $70 and to insert the contents of House Bill 2121 into House Bill 2122, returning to the House position of a 10-day delinquency period for quarterly payments.

The agreement was summarized by Speaker 3, who said, “to just summarize that agreement and should be the final report. So inserting the contents of House Bill 2,121 into House Bill 2,122. In 2122, we're going back to the house position on, the 10 versus 30 days, for the delinquency on those quarterly payments. And then house bill 21 21 will be, the same as it left the, I guess, as it left the the senate where they they break out the electric hybrid vehicles, with the electric hybrid fee going to $70 from its current 50 as it as it was from senate amendments.”

Committee members discussed numeric options before settling on 70. Speaker 2 reviewed earlier proposals: “We were at 50. You guys were at 85 halfway in the middle of 6750. To make k dot whole, it takes $69. If you want us to try the 70, we could try it at 70 if it's okay with my partner here on the right.” Speaker 1 replied, “You call it. You pick the number,” and later, “Alright. We'll give it a shot at 70.”

Members also considered alternative numeric formulations while negotiating how much of the increase KDOT (Kansas Department of Transportation) would absorb. Speaker 1 suggested adjusting the leading digit to shift the allocation: “You know, I, there there's a 69 Highway in Johnson County. Let's do 68 and just make KDOT take a little bit. Will that make it a little easier for you if we've got a 6 in front of that number?” The group ultimately agreed to attempt the $70 figure; Speaker 2 added, “If it doesn't make it through, we'll meet again.”

The meeting record shows no formal motion or recorded roll-call vote on these items. The exchange was an informal committee-level agreement on how to proceed with bill language and fee levels ahead of formal legislative action. Members also mentioned Senate Bill 9 and discussed where to place it in the package, but the record does not specify the final placement.

Next steps recorded in the discussion: staff will proceed with the $70 electric-hybrid fee proposal and the bill consolidation described above; if the package does not advance in later legislative steps, the committee indicated it would reconvene to reassess. The meeting then was adjourned.