One of the bills to pass the legislative session was the passage of HB 1031, which adds an annual fee of $110 for all-electric vehicles and a $60 fee for hybrid owners to help offset the losses from gas tax collections. Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says the legislation is about making sure everyone who uses the roads helps maintain them.
“This is about fairness and entities paying their fair share,” said Wilson. “This will allow those folks who are investing in these new technologies to pay a fair share, which is actually going to be less than what the average driver pays.”
Wilson says that the feedback that he’s gotten from drivers and the auto industry has been positive so far and that the fee system will continue to develop just as the technology and the marketplace for electric and hybrid vehicles do.
“Many of the owners and industry leaders have supported a modest and appropriate implementation of how best to do this,” he said. “While the system we have, it’s not perfect, it’s going to evolve and be tweaked over time.”
A number of states already have legislation in place to help recoup revenues lost to electric and hybrid vehicles, and Wilson says that comparatively speaking Louisiana’s fees are lower than most. With the huge investment made in infrastructure in this year’s budget, Wilson wants the state to move to the forefront in both preparedness and innovation.
“We don’t expect this to be a windfall of revenue today, but we’re building an infrastructure system of financing transportation that will survive the innovative technologies that are evolving going forward,” Wilson said.
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