Five years after Oklahoma adopted a tax on EV owners for using state highways and roads, Congress is about to enter the same effort but it already is causing a dispute among U.S. House and Senate Democrats.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unveiled its long-awaited transportation bill, also known as the highway bill, over the weekend. The legislation came from Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., who chairs the Committee and from ranking member, Rick Larsen, D-Wash. No Oklahomans sit on the House Committee.
Here’s the rub. According to E&E News, the bill puts Rep. Larsen in direct opposition to what Democrats in the Senate prefer. Larsen supports taxing EV drivers for highway maintenance, which historically is financed through federal and state gasoline taxes. Larsen agrees EV drivers contribute far less to the Highway Trust Fund than gas vehicle drivers or they contribute nothing at all.
In Oklahoma, the “Driving on Road Infrastructure with Vehicles of Electricity (DRIVE) Act, was adopted in 2021 after Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow and Sen. Zack Taylor, R-Seminole wrote House Bill 2234.
“One of the main sources of funding for Oklahoma’s roads and bridges comes from fuel taxes, but as electric vehicles have become more popular, it’s clear we must find a fair way to ensure those EV drivers are helping support our transportation infrastructure as well,” Taylor said in explaining the measure. “That’s what the DRIVE Act will do.”
It went into effect January 1, 2024.
The proposed EV tax could become one of the biggest legislative priorities in the congressional session. However, some of what are considered the most outspoken climate hawks include Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse D-R.I. and Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore. They are against any such EV fee.
“This is another right-wing ideological trophy. They just don’t want to have renewable energy in the future, and they think these ideas up pretty regularly,” Wyden said of Graves’ proposed fees in the transportation bill.
“As far as I’m concerned,” Wyden said, “this is off the table.”
“Fossil-fuel-backed Republicans are hell-bent on keeping Americans chained to the gas pump even as [President Donald] Trump’s war sends gas prices skyrocketing,” Whitehouse said in a statement before the House’s bill was released, reported E&E. “Slapping a fee on electric vehicles isn’t a solution for the Highway Trust Fund.”
For now, it’s part of the newly unveiled bill and Reps. Graves and Larsen included a $130 fee on EVs and a $35 fee on plug-in hybrids. It would also authorize the Federal Highway Administration to gradually increase the fees to up to $150 and $50 respectively.