The House Transportation Committee approves a bill that levies a road usage fee on owners of electric and hybrid vehicles and the money will go towards highway and bridge maintenance. State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says Louisiana relies on its gasoline tax to pay for road work and E-V and hybrid vehicle owners are not paying their fair share.
“And their fair share is that with the evolution in the growth in electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles that’s something we are not currently taking advantage of,” said Wilson.
The measure passed out of a committee on a 9 to 3 vote but still needs full House and Senate approval.
Haughton Representative Dodie Horton supports the measure. Horton says hybrids and E-Vs are using the same roads as other vehicles, but not paying as much in gas taxes.
“So I do believe it puts us all on a level playing field, if they use them, there should be some sort of usage fee,” said Horton.
The legislation calls for electric vehicle owners to pay an additional $110 a year, while hybrid owners would pay a 60-dollar fee.
Baton Rouge Representative Barbara Freiberg says the money would be collected when the owners of these types of vehicles file their state income taxes.
“Each person filling in an individual income tax return to report and certify on such return, the number of electric vehicles and the number of hybrid vehicles registered by the state and owned by the filer,” said Freiberg.
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