Texas lawmaker wants higher fees for EV users

 

A lawmaker in Texas wants to do what was attempted a few years ago in Oklahoma—collect more tax revenue from owners of electric vehicles and hybrids because they don’t pay gasoline or fuel taxes or as much as vehicles powered by gasoline and diesel fuel.

Republican state Rep. Ken King of Hemphill filed the bill to be considered in the upcoming session. It would increase the fee for registration and renewed registration of electric and hybrid vehicles according to a report by Land Line published by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

In the case of Oklahoma, the law, signed by then-Gov. Mary Fallin in 2017 was challenged by the Sierra Club and struck down in the fall of that year by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The bill would have created a $100 annual fee for the purchase of an EV and $30 for those who buy a hybrid vehicle.

Click here for the Land Line story.