You got to love the way states try to nickel and dime us to death. Washington State is enacting a new fee for electric car owners.
If you own a 100 percent all electric vehicle that uses the roads in the State of Washington, you will now have to ante up $100 per year for the right to drive your electric car in that state. The reasoning behind the law is that although electric vehicles use the same roads as gas-powered vehicles, the owners don’t pay gas taxes because they drive right past the pumps. The Associated Press reported that Washington’s gas tax, which is 37.5 cents per gallon, is the state’s largest source of transportation dollars. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, passed on a 31-16 vote and goes next to the House. The same bill passed in the Senate last year but failed in the House, the Associated Press reported. Fortunately, the bill does not apply to hybrid or low-speed electric vehicles (those that do not exceed 35 mph). The majority of states in the U.S. provide potential owners of electric vehicles fairly generous tax incentives to get hem to buy or lease these cars. No other state in the union has even proposed such a fee on all electric cars. Washington should charge an extra carbon tax on cars that use fossil fuels, instead of charging a road usage tax on people who are doing something that benefits the air quality.
Photo Credit: John Vlahakis
We need to get away from the gas tax as a way for paying for highways and roads (construction and maintenance). As more people use electricity, used cooking oil, and maybe even dead bugs, to power their cars, there will be more cars that never buy gasoline at the station. The first users of electric or other alternative fueled cars will be those who can afford it, not the poor. All people who use the roads should pay for them. I don’t know what the answer is, but we need to find a replacement for the gas tax.
Unless it weighs nothing, that electric car still uses roads that must be maintained. I can’t say $100 is right, as it seems quite low, but even electric cars require roads.
Some means of taxation involving mileage and weight is fair, but the gas tax largely covers that. What’s needed in most States is an increase in that tax, but that’s another issue entirely.
Electric vehicles may be better and are likely the future, but they still use the roads.
The problem is we have politicians who want to be politicians, instead of successful citizens wanting to improve society through public office. The difference comes down to these politicians making decisions based on the short-term rather than decisions being made on what’s best for society long-term. Those in public office need to spend more time digging deep and researching issues so they can make the best long-term decisions for society, instead of knee jerk reactions or decisions made to get a quick pop from the cheap seats.