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Senate Finance strips gas-vehicle and jet-fuel elements from transportation bill; committee debates mileage-based user fee beginning with EVs
Summary
Legislative counsel said Senate Finance removed purchase-and-use tax changes, the planned expansion of a mileage-based user fee for gas vehicles, and a jet-fuel surcharge; agency officials urged a phased rollout starting with battery electric vehicles using a $3 million federal grant to build IT systems and committee members debated inclusion of hybrids and rural impacts.
Damian Leonard of the Office of Legislative Council told the Senate Transportation Committee that Senate Finance has proposed three amendments to the pending transportation bill: removing sections 11–12 (changes to the purchase and use tax allocation to the education fund), striking sections 21–23 (the planned expansion of a mileage-based user fee to plug-in hybrids and, later, all light-duty vehicles with an annual inflation adjustment), and removing sections 44–45 (a jet-fuel surcharge and its allocation to transportation/aviation infrastructure).
The committee focused most of its discussion on the mileage-based user fee (MBUF). Patrick Murphy, representing the state Agency of Transportation, said the administration plans to "begin with electric vehicles because on a per vehicle basis, that is where we're losing the most money." He described an automated approach that would estimate fuel-tax equivalents using EPA combined fuel-economy ratings and reporting periods so refunds and advance calculations could be calculated without customers filing complex paperwork.
Members raised concerns about fairness, timing and administrative complexity. Some legislators said removing gas vehicles from the Finance amendment felt like a change in the story presented earlier and warned of a "bait and switch" for electric-vehicle drivers if hybrids and efficient gas vehicles are excluded now but added later. Questions included how out-of-state miles would be handled, whether refunds could be trusted, and whether rural drivers would face disproportionate burdens.
Murphy confirmed the federal $3,000,000 grant supporting the project can be used to build the IT system for an EV-first rollout and to plan for later inclusion of plug-in hybrids and other efficient vehicles, but cautioned that delaying legislative direction could raise future costs to expand the system.
Committee members discussed next steps, including asking appropriations to delay taking up the bill to give Transportation time to prepare technical amendments and to explore including plug-in hybrids and highly efficient gas vehicles. No final vote occurred in the meeting; members signaled they may pursue standalone legislation in the next session if the committee cannot secure desired changes in this bill.
