Senate committee approves highway funding bill that adds small indexed fuel tax and new EV/hybrid registration fees

Senate lawmakers on the Revenue & Tax Committee on Friday advanced Senate Bill 336, a multi‑part highway funding package that would index a new percentage‑based tax on gasoline and diesel to regional 2018 prices, dedicate casino receipts above a baseline to highway funding and impose new registration fees on hybrid and electric vehicles.

Sponsor Senator Rice, who introduced a brief technical amendment early in the hearing that the committee adopted, told members SB 336 is intended to be “substantial, prudent and long term.” He said the measure would base a new percentage tax on the U.S. Department of Energy’s reported 2018 Gulf States average fuel price, multiply those prices by set percentages (1.6% for gasoline, 2.9% for diesel) and thereby raise roughly 3¢ a gallon on gasoline and 6¢ a gallon on diesel. Rice said the combined change and other provisions would raise an estimated $86,000,000 annually, including about $58,000,000 for the Arkansas Department of Transportation and about $26,000,000 for city and county road funding, with new…